Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV
by Liquid
Summary: In the year 2001, Umbrella is on its last legs, and risks transporting BOW research materials by hiding them onboard the cruise ship Starlight. US Agent Leon Kennedy is sent in to investigate these rumors, but he is not prepared for the nightmare that awaits... and he isn't the only one investigating the ship.
1. Chapter 1 Umbrella's Desperation

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter One: Umbrella's Desperation**

 _In the aftermath of Raccoon City's destruction, which had officially been declared a US government operation to contain a deadly disease, the pharmaceutical conglomerate Umbrella began to suffer a loss of fortune. Once a provider of more than a third of all employment throughout the small Midwestern city, and a trusted household name throughout the world, the company fell under suspicion and mistrust after the survivors of Raccoon City began to come forward with their stories._

 _Although these outlandish tales of illegal genetic research and artificially created monsters roaming the streets were not enough to bring legal action against Umbrella, the frequency and similarity of each survivor's account was enough to frighten their investors. Then a few months later, after it was claimed that a power plant meltdown caused the destruction of a corporate town on the remote island of Sheena… this incident became known as The Second Raccoon City once a handful of survivors came forward once again with similar stories._

 _Investor pullout, loss of major installations due to both laboratory accidents and attacks from rival organizations, and continuous scrutiny from governments around the world, all added up to Umbrella's stock collapsing… financially a worse fate for the company than any legal action. This did not mean the end for Umbrella, though, not yet anyway, but it did lead to massive reorganization of remaining funds and resources. After all, even the partially destroyed facilities housed valuable research data and specimens, which couldn't just be left there._

 _Desperate to consolidate their remaining resources into the few fully functional bases that remained, Umbrella began to employ tactics to transport the data and specimens around the world via means that were even less stable and secure than their previous methods, including the use of transportation that was open to the public. To combat this dangerous practice, and prevent the possibility of more virus outbreaks like what happened in Raccoon City and Sheena Island, a new organization was formed._

 _The fledgling Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance, or BSAA for short, was created to investigate the illegal creation, transport, and sales of Bio-Organic Weapons, or B.O.W.'s like the ones created by Umbrella. Consisting mainly of survivors of the previous outbreaks, and granted limited unofficial support from a few countries such as the United States, Australia, and Nigeria, the BSAA would eventually be recognized by the United Nations and gain funding from several large pharmaceutical companies such as Tricell by 2003…_

 _But was still struggling to prove itself in 2001… when they were tossed into the nightmare that would become known as the Starlight Incident…_

"Good morning, Agent Kennedy." The security guard said after the scanner turned green. "Have a good day, Sir."

Being addressed as _Agent_ and called _Sir_ by people was still something that Leon Kennedy was having difficulty getting used to, even though it had been going on now for three years… since only about a month after Raccoon City. The Agent had never imagined himself being a _government suit_ , hell, back in the Police Academy he hadn't even been sure if he was going to _graduate_ , until the need for emergency replacements had come up, and he had volunteered.

Stepping through the metal detector after putting his ID Card back into his wallet, Leon collected his service weapon, a standard issue 9mm Beretta, from the tray on the other side, and put it back into his shoulder-holster as he stepped into the lobby of the headquarters building. The sun was just starting to peek over the nearby buildings, flooding the room with bright orange light through the large east-facing windows, making him have to put up his hand to shield his eyes as he walked across the highly shined marble floor toward the elevators, when something was suddenly in his path.

A splash of brown liquid that left a large stain on the white button down shirt that the Agent was wearing under his suitcoat, followed by a burning sensation that made him cry out while holding the shirt away from his skin as much as possible until it cooled. The cause of all this: a stern looking young woman in a red blazer and pencil skirt, holding a now empty cup of coffee. She let out an annoyed _huff_ while glaring at him through her thin glasses, as if she were angry at him for what happened, but at least the coffee on him was cooling down.

"What are you doing, walking around with your hand over your eyes like that?" She demanded in a voice that was slightly higher than Leon expected. "I was planning on _drinking_ this, you know."

"I'm sorry, all right?" The Agent replied, moving the front of his shirt around to try and dry it with moving air. "The sun was in my eyes, I didn't see you… here, come on, I'll buy you another cup."

This was a genuine attempt to smooth things over, but apparently the young woman wasn't having it; getting a little red in the face while glaring at him with an even angrier expression. Instead of accepting his apology like any rational person would have done, she crushed the empty cup in her hand, before tossing it into the nearby wastebasket hard enough so that it made a noise, which was impressive since the cup was nothing but thin Styrofoam.

"I do not have _time_ for another cup." She hissed, making Leon think for a second that she was going to hit him or something. "I have a _very_ important meeting to attend, and I did not spend all night driving to this office to have my time nor my coffee wasted by some _idiot_ who thinks he's playing _Marco-Goddamn-Polo_ in the lobby."

With that, she turned around and walked away, stepping heavily enough so that her high-heels made a _clack-clack-clack_ as she headed toward the elevator. Maybe she was an ass because her shoes were too tight, the Agent thought, comparing her to the _Grinch_ in that _Dr. Seuss_ story, or maybe because her dirty blonde hair was tied up so tightly in a bun that it _had_ to be hurting her face. The young woman had been pretty enough, but with _that_ personality, she might as well have been ugly.

" _I do not have time for another cup_." Leon mocked quietly in a high pitch voice as she vanished into the elevator. " _I have a very important meeting to attend_."

The saddest part in all this was how that ever since Raccoon City, the Agent had automatically expected every woman that he encountered to be as capable, good natured, and pleasant to be around as Claire Redfield had been during their fight to escape the police station. To him it just seemed logical that if a nineteen year old college student with no training whatsoever could handle herself that well in such an extreme situation, then why the hell couldn't trained government Agents be civil while nothing was happening?

It really was too bad that the two of them had to go their separate ways, and Leon hadn't even _heard_ from her since he had gotten that weird email from her back in November of 98'. He had considered looking her up a couple times, but after having to deal with that _brother_ of hers… was it really worth it? He had been trying to tell Chris that she was in danger, and the guy had gone all _overprotective father_ on him, demanding to know what his _relationship_ was with Claire, and how _exactly_ they knew each other, acting like he had caught them in _bed_ together or something… not that Leon _hated_ the idea of being with Claire or anything.

Shaking his head to bring himself back into the present, the Agent remembered that he had his own meeting to attend, and finished making his way over to the elevator, where he had to wait for it to come back down to the ground floor. It felt like everyone that walked past him was looking right at the coffee stain on his shirt, making him feel a bit self-conscious to the point where he really wanted to yell out something like _'hey, at least it's not zombie guts'_ or something like that… yeah, not a situation he _ever_ wanted to find himself in again.

After what felt like forever, the elevator doors opened with a soft _ding_ from above, and the first thing he noticed was that the light coming in through the windows was not as harsh, most likely due to the slight tinting over the glass… so why the hell couldn't they install that in the lobby? The floor was carpeted, too, muffling his footsteps and generally reducing the echo of every ambient sound as the Agent moved down the hallway, toward the designated office, which thankfully was not too far away.

"Go right in, Agent Kennedy." The receptionist behind a desk said with a polite smile when he showed his ID. "The Director is expecting you."

Leon smiled back, thinking in his mind about telling the woman form the lobby _'see, was that so hard?'_ , before walking up to the solid wood double doors, and pulling them open. He had to squint again as the intense sunlight came back, making the Agent wonder why this office wouldn't have tinting when the hallway outside did, but he could still see enough to find his way across the office to one of the chairs that was in front of the Director's desk. The windows were right behind her, making him only able to see the shadow of her thin frame and shoulder length hair, but that would have to do, he supposed.

"Glad you could make it, Kennedy." The Director said. "This is Agent Amanda Pricely, on loan to us from the Chicago Office."

"We've met." An unpleasantly familiar voice replied from the chair next to his. "After what happened with the coffee, I'm surprised he didn't come _pogo-sticking_ down the corridor _blindfolded_."

Oh _Lord_ , Leon thought once he realized who was sitting next to him, it was that girl from the lobby… what the hell was she doing in the same meeting as him? His thoughts were interrupted when the Director pressed a button on her desk that caused the doors to lock, while shades rolled down over the windows, making the Agent once again unable to see for the few seconds it took for his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Well, I'm glad that you two are already acquainted." The Director continued as a projector screen came down on the wall next to them. "Because you're going to be working together on your new assignment."


	2. Chapter 2 Operation Starlight

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Two: Operation Starlight**

The first feeling that Leon got, after hearing that he was going to be working with the uptight jerk of a woman that he had met down in the lobby, was that of disappointment, and clearly Amanda felt the same way, since they both exchanged disgusted glances at each other a moment later. The Director, however, didn't seem to care about the obvious hostility between them, instead proceeding right into the briefing.

"As you know, out agency has been offering unofficial support to the new BSAA for some time." She explained as the BSAA logo appeared on the projector screen. "I've called both of you here because we've received a request for assistance from them that is… a little more than we usually offer."

With a _click_ of a button, the screen changed to now show a few pictures of air fields and shipping docks, all planes and ships in view having the Umbrella Corporation logo clearly printed on the side. There was also an image of what looked like an underground railroad system sort of like a subway, also with an Umbrella logo… and causing Leon to have a sudden flashback of Raccoon City. It was such a train that he and the others had used to finally escape after a night of endless terror, and then the mutated William Birkin came back… and the Agent had to shake his head to bring himself back into the present.

"For the past several decades, Umbrella has used its own shipping lanes to move corporate assets." The Director continued. "However, due to the recent allegations, as well as the rumored attacks against them from rivals, their private shipping lanes have all but shut down."

Well, if Umbrella no longer had the means or the funding to keep moving around the resources they had left, then as far as Leon was concerned, this was a good thing. However, he was forced to change his mind when the Director also mentioned that the BSAA's spies, who were watching the company's remaining bases, reported that there was still plenty of materials being shipped out and received just as frequently as before. For a moment he wondered how they could be moving illegal materials without their own shipping lanes… and an unpleasant possibility came to him even before the next slide appeared on the screen.

This one also contained several pictures, again of trains, ships, and airplanes, but instead of being corporate owned, each of them appeared to be civilian models. One picture was of a crowded airport in Europe, another of a subway station in China that was absolutely packed with commuters, and the one of a ship had what looked like a bunch of Americans in flowered shirts getting ready for a cruise.

"Although it has never been proven, we all know how devious and underhanded Umbrella can be." The Director explained. "Which is why we were willing to believe the BSAA operatives when they said that they suspect the company of moving Bio-Organic Weapons and other research materials via hiding them onboard civilian vessels."

"Are they insane?" Amanda spoke up, startling Leon since she had been quiet for so long. "Hiding dangerous materials onboard a civilian plane would be… I mean, they wouldn't have the same security or containment assets available as with their own planes, and well… they haven't actually been _good_ about keeping things tidy up until now, have they?"

Worse yet, the reports from the BSAA said that they suspected not just _one_ civilian transport of each kind being used for this highly dangerous activity, but _several_. This was the primary reason for needing help from a government agency; the fact that there was simply not enough people for them to check out every lead on their own, and there was always the possibility that Umbrella could change their routine at any time if they thought one of their vessels was compromised.

And as far as the vessels in question went, at least for the purposes of this particular mission, another _click_ of the button changed the screen so that it was showing a very large ship; one of those luxury cruise liners for rich people, that had multiple decks, pretty much every creature comfort imaginable from swimming pools to live entertainment, while the word _STARLIGHT_ was painted across the bow behind a bunch of people in flowered shirts who were walking up the gangplank.

"Your mission in this case is purely reconnaissance." The Director continued. "You are to investigate the ocean liner Starlight, and obtain proof of any transportation of illegal cargo by the Umbrella Corporation, but since we do not have official authorization to search the vessel, you are to take no direct action against them on your own."

"That sounds easy enough." Leon replied, again looking at the picture of the Starlight. "So why is Agent Pricely here, though? Is she going to be my new Operator for the mission or something?"

"Absolutely not." Amanda exclaimed, seeming offended by his question. "I'm a _field agent_ , not some glorified… _telephone operator_ , and if _either_ of us has proven unsuitable to go on missions so far, it's _you_ , Agent Kennedy. You're _obviously_ here to be _my_ Operator."

"That's enough you two; you're _both_ wrong." The Director ordered just as Leon was about to say something else. "Due to the secrecy of this mission, _I_ will be serving as Operator _myself_ , while the two of you… well, you should know that the Starlight is a _couples only_ cruise… couples, as in… newlywed _honeymooners_."

From the shocked and disgusted expression that Amanda exchanged with him a second later, it was clear to the Agent that the blonde woman felt exactly the same way about this news as he did. She wasn't bad looking or anything, far from it, but Leon had hated her from the moment that she first opened her mouth, and the two of them had absolutely no chemistry between them at all… even if they did agree to this mission, who in the hell would _actually_ believe that he and Agent Pricely were newlyweds on their honeymoon?

"What, are you trying to pass him off as a _millionaire_ or something?" Amanda asked, laughing to herself a little. "Am I supposed to play some ditsy blonde _trophy wife_ who is bleeding him dry, so that no one suspects when I search the ship?"

"Close, but I had _Agent Kennedy_ in mind as the trophy." The Director explained, this time Leon letting out a small laugh of his own. "Don't take this the wrong way, Amanda, but you look more like a corporate board-member, who has all kinds of money but no time for a man… at least, not one that requires a lot of your attention."

The blonde woman let out a huff while folding her arms, and although Leon didn't like being compared to some unintelligent _surfer dude_ or something, it was worth it to see Amanda knocked down a peg or two. Still, for this mission to take place, he needed to pretend to not only be married to that jackass, but a newlywed at that? Why couldn't Umbrella have taken over a normal ship?

Insults and petty bickering aside, the plan was a pretty solid one; have them board the Starlight as a married couple who isn't actually in love, and then have Agent Pricely mingle with her supposedly fellow wealthy people which would allow her to check out the main areas of the ship. Meanwhile, Leon, under the guise of simply wanting to be away from her for a while, would sneak down into places like the engine room and the cargo hold, thereby allowing them to both cover more of the area at once, while also still being able to report back to HQ if one of them was compromised.

Equipment was to be kept to a minimum as well; a sidearm and miniature radio transmitter each, while the rest of their gear was just as if they were a couple of civilians who were packing for a two week cruise across the Atlantic Ocean. This meant that the Agent was going to have to get himself some flowered shirts, hopefully that didn't make him look too much like _Magnum P.I._ back in the 80's, while Amanda made a hateful remark about having to get some new summer-wear.

"I still don't know about this, Director." The blonde woman said, her arms still folded. "Even if we pose as a couple who married each other for my money and his, uh… bod, I guess… no one is going to believe that we got married without knowing a _single thing_ about each other."

"You are exactly right, Agent Pricely." The Director answered, leaning back in her chair a little. "Good news, though; the Starlight is in _Charleston Port_ for resupply right now, and boarding isn't for another three days, which gives you two plenty of time to get to know each other, or at least your cover stories during the drive to _South Carolina_."

Hey now, wait a second, Leon thought after hearing this. The Director wanted him to drive all the way to _South Carolina_ with this woman? Unfortunately, the time for discussion was over, when the Director pressed another button on her desk, making the projector shut of as the screen and the blinds rolled back up, allowing the unfiltered sunlight to come back into the office. The last thing that happened before they were dismissed was for the Director to pass them an envelope containing two _First Class_ tickets for the Starlight… oh well, the Agent thought as he and the blonde woman stood up to leave… at least the lodgings were going to be nice.

"I can't believe this." Amanda said as they moved back into the carpeted hallway. "If I had known that I was going to be paired with someone like _you_ for a mission… would've declined, and _not_ drove all the way here from _Arizona_."

"Are you going to be like this the whole time?" Leon asked after pushing the button to call the elevator. "I'm not happy about this, either, but like it or not, we've got a job to do, so how about you quit whining, and pretend that you're a _professional_ for a few seconds."

She just stood there for a second, looking like she was about to say something a few times, but always deciding against it. As a government agent, it was his job to keep focused and be professional about all his missions… regardless of the fact that if he had known he was going to be working with someone like her, he might have let William Birkin kill him back in Raccoon City.

"Well, come on then, _darling_." The Agent said when the elevator door opened. "We have a long drive ahead of us before we can start our _honeymoon_ cruise."


	3. Chapter 3 Tobias and Gillette

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Three: Tobias and Gillette**

Main power was out, and spinning yellow lights cut through the darkness, allowing only flashes of the facility's features to be seen, aside from the few wall mounted emergency lights that barely did anything since they had been placed too far apart during construction. The sounds of people in heavy boots thudding against the polished concrete could be heard as a dozen men ran down the corridor, and then more gunfire lighting up the surrounding area with brief muzzle flashes.

The concrete walls and ceiling were peppered with cracks and little holes where the bullets had struck, and the blaring alarms were echoing continuously, creating a nearly unbearable noise that almost managed to drown out the screams that were slowly replacing the sounds of gunfire. Blood was splattered across the floor and walls in certain places, too, while empty bullet casings were scattered around the bodies of the armed guards who had fired them… each man crumbled onto the floor, some left in unnatural positions with expressions of agony on their faces.

Eventually the last of the gunfire stopped, as did the accompanying screams, leaving the corridor with no activity aside from the alarms and spinning yellow lights… that is, until a figure came walking slowly out of the darkness. His own footsteps couldn't be heard over the noise, but if anyone had been there in the corridor watching him, they would have seen through the bullet holes in his jeans and shirt, that the bleeding skin underneath was slowly regenerating to the point where it looked like he had never been shot at all.

In fact, the only reason that the man was moving that slowly was because of the kicking and flailing man in a suit, who was being dragged across the floor behind him by the hair. His prisoner's glasses were broken, and some of the blood from the guards had splattered across his face and graying hair, but with him being more concerned about trying to escape; his flailing shoes hitting the floor and his hands reaching out for anything that could save him as he was dragged across the emblem of the Umbrella Corporation that was painted on the floor.

"You'll never get away with this, do you hear me?!" The prisoner yelled over the alarm, trying and failing to sound unafraid. "Do you know who…

" _Blah, blah_ , _do you know who I am_?" The man dragging him mocked in a high pitched voice. " _Blah, blah, I have friends in big places, blah, blah, you'll die for this_ … I've heard it all before, son, so do us both a favor and close your God damn mouth."

The prisoner grabbed onto the man's wrist in an attempt to break his grip, which resulted in a scream as the powerful hand simply tightened on his hair in response… but then the walk stopped when someone else came around the corner up ahead. At first the man started to reach under his jacket for his revolver when he saw the uniform of another guard, but stopped when he saw that there was no threat here.

Unarmed, stumbling a bit when he walked, and even drooling a little after having to lean against the wall to stay on his feet, the guard was mumbling to himself incoherently; his head slightly bobbing back and forth while his lightly glazed over eyes were swimming around in his head. In fact, this wandering guard didn't seem to be aware of anything until the man asked him what he was doing there, causing him to suddenly jump to life like someone who had been startled awake.

"I'm s… sorry, Mr. Liquid." He slurred, a drop of blood running down from his left eye while his head slowly tilted to the side. "Ms. Gillette… uh… Ms. Gillette sent me to turn off… to turn off the alarm; it's… she said it's hurting her head. Then I gotta… and then I gotta kill myself."

"Yeah, that alarm _is_ pretty annoying." Mr. Liquid replied casually. "All right, carry on... oh, and _electricity_ is probably the best way to take care of that last part."

The guard nodded, drooling heavily as he continued on toward one of the nearby security booths, and a few seconds later the alarms fell silent. Main power was still offline, so the spinning yellow lights were left on while the guard stumbled back out of the booth, over toward the heavy power conduits that ran along the concrete wall. Without hesitation, he grabbed onto the conduit casing at the nearest joint, and then ripped it off the wall so that the sparking wires and cables within were exposed… so that he could shove them into his mouth.

A scream broke the newly fallen silence of the facility as sparks shot out of the guards mouth, making his whole body convulse as his skin started to smolder. In a puff of smoke, all of the hair on his head was singed off, and now his clothes caught fire when the guard's entire body suddenly combusted. When he finally hit the floor, there was nothing left but a burned and blackened husk, and while the prisoner being dragged was mortified by this spectacle, Mr. Liquid couldn't have cared less.

"You… you _monster_!" The prisoner yelled, again being dragged as the walk continued. "You inhuman monster!"

"Do you see that tattoo on my arm?" The man asked, nodding to the black stamp of _P-001_ that was branded into his shoulder. "Do you know where I got that from? From Umbrella _shitheads_ like you, when I was locked up in a lab a lot like this one. Hell, I'd probably still be there _today_ if some _idiot_ hadn't blown the top off of Sheena Island and set me free."

Rounding one more corner, they came to a set of metal double doors, that when pushed open, led into an area that was like being in a whole different place than the concrete corridor. Thick brown carpet covered the floor, and the walls were stained to create the illusion of drywall as if this could have been the administration area of _any_ corporate office. The lights were on, too, most likely on an emergency generator, and there were several small offices on both sides of the hall, each one containing real wooden furniture.

Unfortunately, there was blood splattered on the carpet and walls there as well, along with a few bodies of more guards lying on the floor… but there were several people alive as well. Like the wandering guard that they had seen earlier, all of these people were in the same drooling, incoherent state; some guards, as well as a few very well dressed men and women who were clearly members of the facility's executive staff. And standing in front of them, as if she were a General reviewing her troops, was a slender young woman with long black hair.

"Oh, wow, I _really_ love your dress." The young woman said happily with almost _genuine_ politeness. "It's so much better than the rags _I'm_ wearing… give me your clothes, and then break your own neck."

"Yes, Ms. Gillette." The red haired woman she was speaking to replied, drooling heavily. "I'll do any… I'll do anything you want."

Moving without hesitation like the wandering guard, nor even the slightest amount of shame, the red haired woman stripped out of her clothes while the brunette did the same. Slipping into the undergarments and then the dress easily, since she and the other woman were just about the same size, Gillette even took the woman's hairband so that she could put hers up into a long ponytail. Patiently waiting for her to finish, the now naked red haired woman took off her heeled shoes, handing them to the brunette so that she could put them on… before there was a wet _crack_ as the last of the instructions were carried out.

Now that Gillette's hair was up, a tattoo of _C-008_ could be seen on the back of her neck, similar to the one on Mr. Liquid's arm, but only until she loosened the ponytail enough for it to be covered again… giving no regard to the woman's body on the floor as she stepped up to the next person in line. The brunette was about to say something to the drooling man, when she stopped and turned toward the door where the man and his prisoner were coming in.

"Tobias, you're back!" She exclaimed happily, moving a little awkwardly in her new heels as she ran across the room and gave him a kiss on the lips. "Did you get the Administrator? Oh, and do you like my new dress?"

"You look _gorgeous_ , Gillette." He replied, taking a moment to look at her while she did a spin. "And yes, I've got the Administrator right here… it's too bad, really… if he had a few more guards, he _might_ have gotten away."

Putting one arm around the brunette as he continued dragging the prisoner toward the largest of the offices, Tobias gave Gillette a quick kiss on the cheek, before having to let go of her in order to pick up the Administrator off the floor. With hardly any effort at all, he forced him to stand up, only to roughly pull the Administrator so that he was forced to sit down roughly in the chair behind the desk, where Tobias held him by the arms from behind so that he couldn't get up.

"You _freaks_ stay away from me!" The Administrator screamed, struggling harder as the brunette walked up to him. "I said get the fuck away from me! Help! Someone help me! Help me, please! Help…

"Shhh, hush now." Gillette said softly, putting her finger to his lips. "You don't have to be frightened; everything's going to be all right as long as you cooperate with us, okay? Now, we know that Umbrella recently moved a bunch of cargo through here, and I want to know where it is going… specifically a storage tank marked _R-002_. Tell me what I need, and I _promise_ that neither of us will lay a hand on you. The alternative, though… is joining your friends out _there_."

The Administrator took a quick, frightened look at the drooling, half-dead people who were standing in the main hall, and then nodded to her in agreement; quickly rambling off a five digit number that he explained was the combination to the hidden safe underneath his desk. He swore on his mother's life that everything they wanted to know was in there, and after the brunette opened the hidden safe, she pulled out a large file with the word _STARLIGHT_ written on the cover.

"This actually looks promising." She commented, thumbing through the first few pages. "Let him go, Tobias."

Letting out a sigh of relief as the man let go of him, the Administrator just sat there with a dumbfounded look on his face while the two of them walked back out into the main hall. Once the prisoner realized that they were actually letting him go, he broke down, putting his head on the desk and quietly sobbing to himself with relief while Tobias looked over the file that the brunette had given to him.

"It's definitely worth investigating." He said, looking at an image of a cruise liner. "South Carolina's a good distance, though, so we better tie up loose ends here, and get a move on."

Gillette nodded, and then separated from him in order to walk back over to the drooling people who were still standing where she had left them. Some of the people were starting to bleed out the eyes and nose now, just like the first wandering guard had done, but all of them looked up toward her when she stood in front of them and snapped her fingers to get their attention.

"You've all been _so_ helpful today, thank you." She said with a sweet smile that made her close her dark green eyes a bit. "Now go into the Administrator's office and _eat him alive_."

Suddenly the dazed people came to life, turning away and running around into the office, where the startled Administrator let out a shriek before the first one tackled him to the floor. His screams became more desperate and started to sound more like _gurgling_ as the rest of them joined the pile… while Tobias and Gillette held hands as they walked toward the facility exit.


	4. Chapter 4 At the Pier

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Four: At the Pier**

 _Beep-beep-beep!_ Leon's eyes snapped open when the alarm clock went off, and since it was still dark outside, all he could see was the illuminated digital numbers that read 4:00 AM. No, that couldn't be right, the Agent thought while rubbing his eyes, there was no way that their alarm was set to go off that early in the morning, especially when the Starlight didn't even begin _boarding_ until eight.

 _Ow_ … now there was a flash of unnecessary light as the lamp on the nightstand was turned on, forcing him to cover his eyes for a second while Amanda shut off the alarm, and then the blonde woman started turning on even more lights once she had jumped out of bed like a kid ready to open presents on Christmas morning. She made some snarky comment about getting out of bed, but Leon was still too out of it to understand language this early, and then she vanished into the bathroom with her suitcase.

The good news in all this was that after three very long days of driving all the way to Charleston, South Carolina with that… woman, the day had finally come for their _actual_ mission to begin. Having gotten into town late the previous night, the two of them had checked into a _Super 8_ motel that was less than a mile from the pier, which made it make even less sense for Amanda to set the alarm for four in the _damn_ morning.

Oh well, at least the beds had been comfortable; separate of course, with the alarm clock sitting on the night stand in between. The air conditioner was noisy, but he had never known a motel where it wasn't, and such minor inconveniences were worth it just to get a break from riding in a car with Agent Pricely. The woman had done nothing but brag about herself the whole time, constantly listing her accomplishments in a way that was meant to put him down; for instance, the fact that she had a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice, while Leon only had a High School Diploma… without any honors, at that.

"All right, partner, the bathroom's all yours." Amanda announced, walking through the door looking _completely_ different than she had yesterday. "And don't forget to put that wedding ring on before we go."

The Agent wasn't listing to her, since he was shocked at her current appearance to the point of being momentarily speechless. Her hair was down, wavy and past her shoulders, with just a little bit of eye liner and lipstick on her face, while wearing a pretty blue sundress that came down to just above her knees. She definitely looked like a rich tourist, but Leon hadn't expected her to be so… _hot_ underneath that miserable exterior.

"Leon, I said you can use the bathroom now." She snapped, reminding him of her true nature when she clapped her hands to get his attention. "And remember that we're not _really_ married, so keep your eyes up _here_."

Coming back to his senses, and taking his own suitcase into the bathroom, the Agent's first thought was to be glad that he was single, because the thought of being married to someone like her… yeah, it gave him shivers. So he took a shower, followed by brushing his teeth, and then getting dressed in his _own_ tourist disguise… damn it, the flowered shirt _did_ make him look like _Magnum P.I._ after all. He wasn't used to wearing shorts and sandals, so that was going to take some getting used to… as was pretending to be married to Amanda.

"You can do this, Leon." He said to himself, wiping the moisture off the mirror. "The world is counting on you to bring Umbrella down… so just pretend that she's Claire Redfield or Ada Wong when you have to be nice to her."

When he finally came out of the bathroom, it was nice to see that the blonde woman was a bit shocked by his appearance as well, although she recovered from it far more quickly than he had done. Soon they were all packed up and ready to leave, with the last thing Leon having to grab being his carry-on bag. Their radio transceivers were inside their checked baggage, and there weren't metal detectors like at the airports, so his sidearm was fine in his shoulder holster, while Amanda's was strapped to her thigh, but the carry-on bag did have one important thing that he never went anywhere without.

It was a small police badge, beaten up and dented around the edges because of time and events that it had gone through, with the words: _RACCOON CITY POLICE_ written across the top, and _OFFICER_ written across the bottom. The badge was worthless these days, but to him it was a reminder of what they were fighting for, and why it was so important for evil groups like Umbrella to pay for what they had done. Was it stupid to carry around such a trinket? Maybe, but it was really the only thing he had left to remember Raccoon City… aside from the nightmares.

As soon as everything was packed up and carried down to the car, with _him_ doing all of the heavy lifting, they checked out… paying with the _government credit card_ , of course, and now it was off to the pier… to wait, and wait for no good reason. It was fine, though, Leon thought as they got back into the car, because it would give them a chance to take a look around there too, and possibly find something before it was even time to board. It was a nice thought, making it a little easier to deal with Amanda, and… hey, what was that?

The Agent had put the car into reverse, and was backing out of the parking space, when for a second he thought he saw someone looking out at them from the window of the room that had been right next to theirs, which was fine, except for the fact that it looked like the figure's eyes were _glowing yellow_. No, that was stupid, Leon thought as he shook his head to regain his focus… the guests in that room must have brought in a cat or something, and the glow was from the car's headlights reflecting off them… yeah, that had to be it.

"Now, take us right down to the pier, Leon." The blonde woman ordered. "I want to get a good parking space, so that we can observe everyone who comes in."

Well, they certainly had a good lead on getting a parking space down at the pier, since except for them, there were only a few cop cars on the road… oh, wait there was _one_ other car, but it was so far behind that they lost sight of it after going over the next hill. Amanda had fallen silent for a moment, thank God, seeming to be distracted by the lights on all the buildings, and Leon had to admit that Charleston was a pretty good looking city.

There wasn't much time to enjoy it, though, since the pier was so close, leaving them in a big open lot that was illuminated by freestanding dual streetlights positioned on small islands. In front of them, however, was the Starlight, a massive cruise liner, on which the two of them were going to be spending the next two weeks, regardless of whether their investigation turned up any evidence against Umbrella. That was one good thing about this whole mess; their First Class tickets gave them access to all of the ship's entertainment features, and he couldn't just go around _breaking character_ , now could he?

Suddenly the silence was broken by the sound of a speeding car on the road behind them, and the Agent turned around just in time to see a red sports car get some air as it was launched over a speedbump. Maybe it was his imagination, but it looked like the couple inside had been laughing hysterically as they went past, swerving all over the road after landing again, and then there was a loud crash when they slammed right into a fire-hydrant, shown when a jet of water started spraying into the air.

In reaction to this, Leon and Amanda jumped out of the car, trying to look from where they were to see if the people were all right, but then a police siren was heard, and a few seconds later one of the cop cars that they had passed earlier arrived on the scene. This was good, because now those poor people were going to get the help they needed, _without_ the risk of blowing the two agents' cover… and then another car appeared. This one was driving much more carefully, slowing down to turn into the parking lot, and then taking the space right next to theirs.

The sun was coming up by this time, so the man driving put on a pair of thick sunglasses before getting out, and then he went around the car to let out his female companion. Both of them looked like stereotypical tourists, dressed damn near identical to Leon and Amanda, but acting more affectionate, since he put his arm around the young woman before joining the two agents in looking at the distant crash.

"Wow, that was _some_ wreck." The man said, adjusting his sunglasses. "Good thing there were so many cops around, huh?"

"Uh, yeah, good thing." Leon replied with a slight yawn, not expecting to have a conversation this early in the morning. "I hope those people are okay… what were they _thinking_ , driving like that on these roads?"

Together, the four of them watched the scene until the ambulance came and the paramedics took the car's occupants away, the whole situation ending once a tow-truck came and hauled away the obviously totaled car. There still weren't any more cars pulling in yet, and the sun was getting pretty bright by then, making the Agent wish that he had brought some sunglasses as well... of course, _that_ would have to be the _one thing_ that he forgot.

"Well, it's a terrible thing, but it's good to meet you two, anyhow." The man stated, offering his hand. "I'm Tobias Liquid, and this is my wife, Gillette… are you newlyweds, too? Here for the Starlight cruise?"

"We got married when we were in _Las Vegas_ last month." The brunette spoke up happily as he and the Agent shook hands. "We saw _Tom Jones_ at _Caesar's Palace_ , and then we had an _Elvis Wedding_ … where did you two get married?"

"In Arizona, at my parents' ranch." Amanda answered, which was good, since Leon forgot where they had said before. "And then my father gave us the Starlight tickets as a wedding present… crazy, right?"

"Uh… not as much as you would think." Tobias replied with a slight laugh. "See, we were just passing through here with no plans at all, and then we met this couple at our motel, and wouldn't you know it, they just up and gave us their tickets just before they drove off… crazy, right?"


	5. Chapter 5 Leaving Port

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Five: Leaving Port**

While the exterior of the Starlight was pretty enough, towering over everything around it, with pearl white with black trim for colors, but this was nothing compared to how the vessel looked on the inside. Once up the gangplank, which became so crowded from excited tourists pushing to get onboard that he and Amanda ended up pushed against Tobias and Gillette for a time, his feet were greeted by solid wood decks, while his eyes feasted on an open-air paradise.

There was a swimming pool, tiki-bar, and _lots_ of beautiful women walking around in bikinis, making everything feel kind of like that old show _The Love Boat_. He wasn't really married, so the Agent couldn't help looking around at all of the ship's features… nor its guests. Of course, this was stopped when a sudden elbow to the stomach from his _partner_ made him regain focus, with her silently mouthing to him that he should put his arm around her… then nodding slightly to the other couple they had boarded with.

Gillette's husband, Tobias, wasn't even _looking_ at all of the scantily clad women walking around, instead carrying all of their luggage with one hand, while the other one was around the brunette's waist, holding her tightly up against him as they walked. Leon was carrying all of the luggage as well, although Gillette must have been a far lighter packer, because the man was making it look easy, while the Agent didn't want to admit how much he was struggling. Oh _great_ , and now it was even harder to walk down the deck once he put his arm around Amanda's waist… but, man, did she smell good.

Thankfully the First Class passengers got to board first, although it was still a good walk to their cabin, which was on the upper decks. The Starlight continued to get more beautiful as they entered the interior; long carpets stretched out over the hard wood floors, decorative paintings on the walls, and exotic potted plants seated on display shelves in the corners… there were even small transparent curtains over the porthole windows for diffusing light.

All of the interior walls were painted in light tropical colors, orange, blue, green, all said to promote calm and relaxation, or at least that was what the _shrink_ that Leon had been forced to go see after Raccoon City had told him. There was a flaw in the ship's design, though, and this was that the elevator was too damn small for passengers who were carrying luggage, leaving the Agent pressed right up against Gillette for the ride up the First Class deck… but she smelled really good, too, so it wasn't _so_ bad… wait a second, what was that on the back of her neck… was that a _tattoo_ hidden under her hair?

Soon the elevator doors opened, allowing them to have some personal space again as they moved down another corridor, this one painted more of an off-white color, and illuminated by small chandeliers that hung along the center of the raised ceiling. A set of wooden double doors led into each of the cabins on this deck, and once again Leon was dumbstruck when he saw what kind of lodgings they were going to have for the next two weeks. There was a giant, heart-shaped Jacuzzi, an even bigger heart-shaped bed, a mini-fridge complete with nearby mini- _bar_ , and the thick red carpet was so _soft_ under his feet.

"I say we search the ship as fast as possible." He said, dropping their luggage on the floor. "What do you think, two, maybe three days to check everywhere? That still gives us like ten days to just enjoy this place."

"I agree, and that sounds nice and all." The blonde woman replied, opening the mini-fridge for a second to look inside. "But, Leon, when we are out among the other passengers, you _really_ need to show me more affection. All of the other men out there were doing everything short of ripping their wives clothes off right in front of us, while _you_ were busy staring at those _bimbos_ near the pool. We have to be careful, because there might be Umbrella agents onboard looking for people who don't fit in."

She was right, of course, since it would have been stupid of Umbrella to not put some hidden people onboard to make sure that all their cargo arrived safely… but since this was a couple's cruise, were they looking for both male and female agents? Finding them shouldn't be too hard, Leon thought, since anyone searching for people who _don't fit in_ would be looking around at the other passengers, instead of their supposed partner… _heh_ , well, that ruled out Tobias and Gillette.

"This will be easier when we're split up." Amanda continued, walking up to him. "But when we are together, we need to be holding hands, and you're going to have to kiss me in public, since, you know, we're _newlyweds_. So, come on, let's practice kissing so that we don't look so awkward, but don't you _dare_ get to liberal with those hands."

" _Practice kissing_? What is this, _Junior High_?" Leon asked, letting out a frustrated huff while sitting down on the bed. "God, if you aren't the most frustrating woman I've ever… why the hell can't you be more like Claire Redfield?"

Saying this was a mistake, since when the Agent had been debriefed about Raccoon City after being recruited into the agency, he had never mentioned Claire even once, since he didn't want anyone bothering her during her search for her brother, and of course the blonde woman wanted to know who she was. So he told her that he had known her in Raccoon City, and made sure to rub in that in even the most extreme of circumstances, that young woman had at least been pleasant to be around.

"You were in Raccoon City for less than _twenty four_ hours." Amanda said once he was done. "And you were supposedly _working_ , so how could you have _known_ anyone besides that kid you rescued? Unless you lied in your report… you _did_ … what, did you just _let her go_ after you got out? If there's another survivor out there, then she needs to be brought in."

"No one is bringing Claire _anywhere_." The Agent snapped, almost angrily as he stood up. "That girl has been through more shit than… than almost anyone, and if you go after her, then you risk bringing that _brother_ of hers down on the whole organization, and Chris… that guy is something else."

Now they were just standing there, kind of awkwardly staring at each other for over a minute. As much as he wanted to leave the cabin and begin searching the ship, if only to get away from the blonde woman, Leon didn't dare go wandering around the ship until everyone was onboard and they left port. With so many passengers moving to get into their assigned cabins, there was no way that an unaccompanied man would have gone unnoticed, especially when he wasn't carrying any luggage, so they had to wait until there would be others moving around on their own.

"Leon, I don't like this any more than you do." Amanda said after a deep breath. "But it's only for two weeks, and then we don't even have to see each other again, but… but until then we have to pretend to a happily married couple, so… so let's agree to try and get along for the sake of the mission, okay?"

"All right, we _are_ professionals, after all." The Agent replied, snickering a little at how ridiculous this situation was. "And I know you're right about us having to look genuine, so I guess we both kind of have to swallow our pride, huh?"

She agreed, and then Leon moved forward, kissing her on the lips for a second… and then again for longer when he realized that it wasn't so bad… and then longer… with their arms slowly going around each other. In fact, without even realizing it, he had picked her up off the floor just a little, with their kiss not ending until the ship lurched forward as its horn went off. All throughout the Starlight, passengers were heard cheering as they slowly pulled away from port, making both Leon and Amanda laugh a little to themselves because it was almost like a candid audience cheering for a kiss on a TV sit-com.

"Well… I can certainly see why the Director's cover story would work." The blonde woman whispered, his arms still around her waist. "My opinion of you hasn't changed; I think you're nothing but an uneducated, hired _goon_ with no manners… but you sure are a good kisser."

"Christ, can you say _anything_ without it being backhanded?" Leon asked, letting go of her and stepping away. "I swear, every time I start to think that maybe you're _not_ such an unbearable pain in my ass, you go and say something like _that_."

For a moment, just a _moment_ the Agent had thought that working with her for two weeks wasn't going to be as bad as he thought… but at least the Starlight was pulling out of port, meaning that soon he would have an excuse to leave the cabin, even though even the _bathroom_ in the place was almost bigger than his apartment… and the toilet even had those fancy heated seats that rich people's houses had in _Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous_ … yeah, he would have to check that out later.

Just to be careful, Leon waited until people could be heard walking around out in the hallway after leaving their cabins, before walking out into the corridor himself. Amanda's plan was to move around the decks and public areas… probably end up just lying by the pool in her bikini… you know, sometimes the Agent thought that investigating Umbrella was actually less frustrating when an outbreak had _already_ occurred. At least the infected didn't need a whole _dog and pony show_ in order to get anything done around them.

Since the blonde woman was going to head to the outer decks, Leon was going to head down into the cargo areas, and if anyone asked what he was doing, he could just say that he got lost looking for where any lost bags were stored, since one of his seemed to be missing. Nothing was, it was just another cover story… man, cover stories, secrets, spying… it really _was_ simpler to do this when everyone was a mindless zombie… not that he actually wanted that to happen _ever_ again.

Umbrella agents were harder to see coming than some deranged infected monster, but he could still feel the pistol in his shoulder holster, which gave him some comfort as he walked out of the cabin, heading down the hallway toward the interior stairwell of the ship.


	6. Chapter 6 Lucia

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Six: Lucia**

The First Class cabins were on the highest deck of the ship, so there was really nowhere for Leon to go but down, once he reached the interior stairwell. There were exterior ones as well, but those were exposed to open air, not to mention the view of damn near every passenger onboard the Starlight, something that would have been counterproductive if the Agent were spotted by Umbrella spies… who could have literally been _anyone_.

Best way to avoid being suspected by spies hiding within a group, however, was to avoid the group entirely, and there was absolutely no one on the interior stairwell. The light fixtures were wall mounted, like what would have been found in any large hotel, and the stairs were metal, so even his most quiet footsteps made noise, regardless of the thick carpet that was covering them completely. A wooden door with a large painted number on the wall next to it, marked the passing of each deck, and a white metal guardrail kept everyone from falling over the side, while… while it was a _long_ way down from where he was looking down the center.

In reality there were only two ways to effectively search the ship; a painstakingly slow sweep through each deck one by one on the way down so that nothing was missed, or going all the way to the bottom, and then a painstakingly slow sweep through each deck one by one on the way back _up_ so that nothing was missed. Either way it all had to be done at some point, and the Agent's story about being lost in restricted areas if discovered was only going to become less credible the longer he was onboard, so Leon decided to simply start from the bottom.

Every once in a while someone would enter the stairwell through a side door, and he would pretend to be tying his shoe, or make small talk for a second to avoid acting suspicious… even though no one else moving around on the ship seemed to be without a partner. Man, the Agent thought after finally getting rid of an exceptionally chatty older couple, maybe he _should've_ brought Amanda down with him… at least then he would have blended in better.

Leaving the First Class cabins behind, and then making his way down through the Second Class decks, and finally through Third, or _Budget_ Class, Leon was starting to think that this stairwell was never going to end, especially when he reached a sign on the wall that read:

 _CREW ACCESS ONLY_

 _NO PASSENGERS BELOW WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION_

This was the start of the Starlight's facilities, such as the kitchens, storerooms, and engineering. Of course, if Umbrella was hiding illegal cargo onboard, it was probably located down in the areas where the least amount of people were allowed to go, so he continued downward. The carpet ended at the next landing, replaced with bare metal with rubber strips to keep crewmembers from slipping, and the fancy colored paint stopped on the next deck as well, replaced with standard gray.

The only thing that remained constant was the light fixtures, and now the ship was starting to smell a lot different, which caught him by surprise, even though he really should have expected it. First it was the scent of food being prepared for the evening's meals, which made him figure that he was passing by the kitchen deck, and then things got significantly louder on the next couple, which probably meant that he was passing down through engineering… that, and the scent of oil.

Finally reaching the bottom of the stairwell, Leon could feel the ship's movements through the water a lot more intensely than when he had been upstairs, probably because there were only a few meters of metal and concrete between him and the water at this point. Things had quieted down a bit, though, so was he now actually below engineering? Maybe he should have taken a better look at the map of the Starlight before just heading down into the bottom, but it was surprising that he hadn't encountered _any_ crewmembers there to stop passengers from simply wandering around.

Looking back up the center of the stairwell to see if anyone was coming, there was nothing to be seen or heard, especially since it was all being drowned out by the rumbling of the engines, so the Agent moved even more carefully as he walked over to the final side door, and turned the knob. Unlocked, just like all the others… strange, but fortunate, since Leon had never been very good at picking locks, and he didn't like the idea of trying to swipe a key off one of the crewmembers.

 _Creak_ , the door slowly opened with a muffled sound of squeaky hinges, leading into a surprisingly well-lit corridor with open-cage lights mounted on the walls at regular intervals. Like everything below the passenger decks, the floor and ceiling were concrete, while the walls were metal, like this ship was some kind of weird hybrid design of old and new technology. Discarded transport carts for moving heavy equipment were left parked against the walls, as well as some small wooden crates; nothing that looked _too_ illicit… aside from the doors, that is.

Lined up along each side of the corridor, there were heavy looking metal doors, all of which were secured with padlocks. This was fine, since Leon's plan was to scout around the entire hallway on this deck before opening any potentially dangerous doors, and he also made a mental note of this deck just in case he didn't get the chance to come back and open them. Along with the doors, the corridor branched into several more hallways, each nearly identical with their Spartan design, and not even any room numbers on the wall to identify the doors… but after rounding a few corners, he discovered something that was _actually_ different.

Right in front of him was another door, metal and secured with a padlock like the others, but this one had a generic hazard symbol painted on the wall next to it on both sides, along with one of those spinning yellow lights on the wall right above, as if it were some kind of alarm. Lastly, there was a small sliding viewing door up toward the top, kind of like what would have been seen inside of maximum security prisons, but… but why would there be such a viewer on the outside of a hazard door, the Agent wondered?

There was really only one way to find out, so Leon walked up to the viewer door, lifted the latch and slid the plate to the side, and saw something unexpected. There was a single light fixture in the center of the ceiling, revealing that this room, which might have once been a storage room, had been made up like the tiny cabins in Third Class. It had a small bed, some basic furniture like a shelf and a nightstand, and even its own toilet and sink. Was someone sleeping inside there, he wondered? And if so, why was the door padlocked from the outside? More importantly…

"Hello!" A voice exclaimed happily as a face suddenly filled up the viewer from below, scaring Leon a lot more than he wanted to admit. "Oh… you're not… hi, I'm Lucia, are you new?"

The Agent was glad that no one had been around to hear the _unmanly_ sound that he had made when this… _little girl_ jumped up from below the viewer to greet him. Like most girls, he guessed about twelve or thirteen at the most, this Lucia was skinny, but her shoulder length red hair was messy as if she didn't brush it very often… more importantly, what the _hell_ was a little girl doing locked up on the lowest deck of a ship that was meant for married couples on their honeymoon?

She didn't look like she had been hurt, just maybe left inside that room for a while, judging by how wrinkled her skirt and yellow top were, and there was a metal tray on the nightstand with some leftover food still on it… so someone was feeding her, at least. Stick figure drawings decorated one of the walls, probably from the little girl being bored from confinement, and now she was just standing there, looking at him while her small hands were around the bars that were on the inside of the viewer.

"Uh… hello, Lucia, I'm Leon, and… yeah, I'm new." He said, honestly not sure what to say, because the only experience he had with kids had been with Sherry Birkin. "So, uh… since I'm new, why don't you tell me what you're doing locked in this room?"

"Oh, they said it's to protect me." The girl replied as if the situation was nothing new to her. "I'm just supposed to stay in here and be quiet until we get to Europe, and then I'm gonna get to meet my new family. Isn't that great?"

The Agent was about to ask her more questions, while also trying to figure out the best way to handle this new situation… but his words and thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he felt something round and metal press into the back of his head… followed by the unmistakable sound of a revolver's hammer being pulled back. Leon had been so focused on the girl in the room, that he hadn't noticed the approaching shadow until there was literally a gun to his head, and now… crap, what was he going to do?

"And that cinches it." Tobias Liquid's voice said from behind. "You know, I was worried that I'd actually have to _work_ to find the spies on this ship, but then I heard you bragging about being in Raccoon City during the outbreak at the motel. Gillette thought it was coincidence, and I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but then… well, here we are… _spy_."

Damn it, the Agent had been made, by the one person he hadn't suspected of working for Umbrella, no less. Man, the way Tobias and Gillette carried on, he genuinely thought they were a real couple, but it must have been an act. All right, Leon, think, he mentally ordered himself… Tobias was a dangerous Umbrella agent, but he was also alone for the moment, and probably didn't expect anyone with a gun to the back of their head to do _this_.

Spinning around while bringing up his arm to take the revolver away from Tobias in a single fluid movement just like he had been taught in training, the plan was for Leon to get the weapon away from the man, and then get all of the information about this ship that he had, through any means necessary. Unfortunately, Tobias casually raised the revolver up above his reach during the Agent's spin, and then Leon's vision went white for a second when the weapon was brought across his face with a loud _whack_.

"Nice try, kid." The man said, laughing a little as the Agent fell sideways to the floor. "Now, let's see about this room that you just _had_ to get into."

Tobias kept his revolver aimed at him while moving up to the door, but if this man was the girl's keeper, than Leon wasn't going to allow him to take any more action. Waiting until the man had to take eyes off him in order to look through the viewer, the Agent took the pistol out from his shoulder holster, quickly pulled the slider back to chamber a round, and then pulled the trigger with the weapon aimed right at Tobias's head with a resounding… _click_.

"Oh, you looking for _this_ , hot-shot?" The man asked, casually taking a pistol clip out of his back pocket. "I felt your gun when we were all packed inside that elevator, so I took your bullets out just in case… you know, when you were so focused on smelling my wife's hair, or whatever the hell you were doing."

 _Bang!_ Tobias pulled his trigger, causing a flash of light and noise, followed by a quick jolt of pain as the empty pistol was sent flying out of Leon's hand… oh God, what the _hell_ was he supposed to do now?


	7. Chapter 7 Girl Talk

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Seven: Girl Talk**

With a soft _thud_ , followed by the _click_ of the cabin's door latch going back into place, Leon was gone, off to begin investigating the lower and restricted areas of the ship, and finally giving Amanda a little time to herself. Her reluctant partner on this mission was certainly good looking, but that was really all the Agent had going for him… not that Leon seemed like a bad person or anything, just… not the sort that the blonde woman would have chosen to work with or socialize.

Oh well, he was gone, and it was time for her to get to work herself, so Amanda got her makeup case and went into the bathroom. Leon's part of the search for illegal Umbrella cargo required being stealthy and going unnoticed, but hers was the exact opposite; mingling with all the other newly married women while checking out all of the passengers and common areas. After all, transporting a virus sample or something didn't require a cargo hold, just a secure case and… literally anywhere big enough to hold it.

Such things could have been hidden in passenger cabins, inside of an air vent, hell, even taped to the underside of a lounge table, although that last one was unlikely. So, in getting ready to mingle with the rest of the passengers, the blonde woman brushed her hair, and put on just enough makeup to enhance her natural beauty without looking like a slut who was out to steal anyone's man… she didn't even want her own, after all… good kisser, though.

Couldn't have been _that_ good in the long run though, Amanda thought, puckering her lips to finish putting on her lipstick. Or else that _Claire Redfield_ girl that Leon kept comparing her to probably wouldn't have ditched him the first chance she got. That one made her giggle a bit, imagining someone as _hot_ as her partner getting dumped by some girl and then spending the rest of his life moping around about her. Yes, Leon was hot, there was no point in denying that, but…

 _Knock-knock-knock_. Suddenly there was a soft, rhythmic tapping on the cabin door, and Amanda wondered who it could have been, since they already had all of their checked baggage. Was it one of the porters checking if the First Class passengers wanted room service? Did cruise ships even _offer_ room service? This was actually her first time on a cruise liner like the Starlight, so the blonde woman had no idea what to expect as she went to the door and opened it… but it was certainly not the smiling face of Gillette Liquid.

"Hello again." The brunette said politely. "I figured that since the _boys_ are off doing their own thing, you wouldn't mind some company. This is my first cruise, and we're less likely to get lost if we go around together."

"Uh, yeah… that actually makes sense." Amanda replied, holding the door open more. "Here, come on in, I just have to finish getting ready."

Tobias's wife was almost overly pleasant and polite, but most people were jackasses these days, so the blonde woman didn't think too much about it as her new friend sat down, crossing her legs as she sat on the cabin's sofa. Gillette was pretty, and enjoyed taking care of herself, judging by her green painted finger and toenails, which matched her expertly applied eyeliner. Amanda hadn't planned on really socializing with anyone, but two women walking around to see what the Starlight had to offer was a lot less suspicious than one… and she was less likely to get hit on as well.

"So, how did you and your husband meet?" She asked while sitting across from her, not quite ruling the brunette out as a possible spy. "Leon and I met through work, and people said we were an odd pair, but everything just fell into place, and here we are."

"I'm pretty sure I fell in love with Tobias the moment I saw him." Gillette said with a partial smile forming on her lips. "He used to be a police detective, and we met when he was, uh… _transferred_ to where I was working. That place wasn't the best environment, but he made me happy, and as soon as we got out of there, he proposed, and well, here we are."

That was actually kind of sweet, although vague as hell… not that Amanda's cover story had been any more specific. Of course, for some reason the blonde woman was having no trouble at all trusting the brunette, when she usually kept everyone she met at arm's length. There was just something about her that seemed so harmless, making Amanda glad that someone as sweet as Gillette had a man like Tobias to take care of her, but… but suddenly she was starting to get nervous after recalling something that the brunette had said a moment ago.

"Um, Gillette." Amanda said, trying to hide the sudden apprehension. "How did you know that Leon wasn't here?"

"Because my cabin is right next to yours." She replied, pointing over to an air duct. "And that vent made it real easy to hear everything you two were saying, you know… about your mission… and investigating the ship. Same way we heard you in the motel."

All right, that was enough, the blonde woman thought as she took the pistol from her thigh-holster, and aimed it at the brunette… although for some reason she didn't seem bothered by this in the slightest. In fact, Gillette just remained where she was, letting out a long sigh before leaning back into an even more relaxed position. Oh crap, Amanda suddenly thought, if she was there with her, then where was Tobias? Was he moving to confront Leon in the same way?

"Don't feel bad, it's pretty hard to keep secrets form my husband." The brunette continued. "I believe his words were _'if they're a married couple, then I'm a Ninja Turtle'_. I hope he doesn't hurt Leon _too_ bad, he's kind of cute… but Tobias gets kind of sensitive about _anything_ to do with Raccoon City."

"Okay, this doesn't have to end badly." Amanda said, trying to keep calm. "I just want to talk, so keep your hands where I can see them."

Gillette held up her hands for a second to show that she wasn't armed, before setting them back down at her sides, and then just… looking at the blonde woman like she was waiting for her to do a trick or something. Here was the thing, though: Were Gillette and Tobias Umbrella spies? Or were they simply curious civilians who noticed the odd behavior displayed mostly by Leon, and were concerned?

"He might not look like it, but Leon is a very capable person." Amanda lied, having absolutely no idea about how skilled or talented her partner was… if at all. "He can handle your husband just fine, so… so why don't you start by telling me exactly who you are, and what you're doing on this ship?"

"Sure, this is actually kind of fun… like watching _NYPD Blue_." Gillette replied, sitting forward again like she was getting excited. "But nervous people shouldn't have guns, so give me your pistol, and then come sit over here."

For a second Amanda thought she was going to burst out laughing when she heard that demand, like there was any chance of her giving the brunette her pistol, especially after the possibility of her and Tobias being Umbrella spies was raised… but something was wrong. The blonde woman knew that giving up her weapon was about the dumbest thing she could do… so then why did she find herself doing just that?

Without an instant of hesitation, Amanda stood up and walked over to Gillette, handing the brunette her pistol, and then sitting down exactly where she had been told. No, that wasn't what she meant to do… she had to get the weapon back and take control of the situation… but she couldn't. No matter how badly she wanted to, the blonde woman could only sit there helplessly while the brunette took the magazine out of the pistol and set it down on the coffee table, before turning so that they were facing each other.

"My spores work pretty fast, don't they?" Gillette asked as her sweet smile returned. "You're lucky, you know; the _A Series_ caused instant death, and the _B Series_ made everyone lose their minds, but I'm part of the _C Series_ , so you've got a couple hours before you turn into a mindless cannibal but there's no point in worrying about things you can't change, right?"

Amanda began to feel a sensation of heat throughout her whole body while the brunette talked, and soon she started to get a little dizzy, swaying slightly back and forth, while it became harder to keep her thoughts in focus. It was kind of like being severely hung over while having a bad flu at the same time; the blonde woman unable to decide whether she was going to throw up or pass out… but neither of these sensations actually happened.

"The _good_ news is that now we can be completely honest with each other." Gillette continued, taking Amanda's slightly shaking hands. "I am a _C Series Tyrant Class B.O.W._ created by Umbrella, and my husband is some kind of prototype countermeasure against things like me, or something like that. Now tell me about you and Leon."

"We're… we're government agents, here assisting the BSAA." The blonde woman replied, slurring a little as she drooled on herself. "The mission was to… our mission… find proof that Umbrella is using civilian ships to… to move illegal cargo."

Amanda was fighting whatever the brunette was using to control her, but this was a battle that was being quickly lost as the heat flowing up through her body only intensified. She became so dizzy that she would have fallen over if Gillette hadn't caught her, and then the brunette did another surprising thing; helping her to lay down on the sofa, and even fluffing the small pillow so that she would be even more comfortable.

"So Tobias was right about you being spies, just not from Umbrella." Gillette continued, helping her further by bringing Amanda's feet up onto the cushion. "I'm sorry, but once someone is infected with my spores, there's no way to stop it, even for me. You've got a couple hours before you degrade completely, but… but I think I know the best way for you to spend them."


	8. Chapter 8 Something in Common

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Eight: Something in Common**

Tobias had one hell of a grip, Leon thought as he was pushed down the empty corridor; the man restraining him by keeping an arm twisted behind his back with one hand, and using the other to keep a hold of the Agent's hair to keep him from making any sudden moves. He had also put the revolver back into his shoulder holster, which was bad since Leon had been hoping to wrestle the weapon away from him, but… the way he was being restrained, the Agent couldn't make any moves unless Tobias wanted him to… and it was really painful to have his head pulled so that it was tilting back so far.

His captor hadn't had the chance to look into the room containing Lucia, which was a good thing, since who knew what someone like Tobias would have done to the kid if he thought she was trying to help him, or escape, or whatever? Still, even though himself getting captured and marched away was keeping Lucia safe, it wasn't doing Leon much good to simply be taken away like that… he needed to wait for the right moment to escape… a moment that came when Tobias moved him off to the side and was forced to let go of the Agent's hair in order to open a metal door.

 _Thud!_ Using the moment of distraction to lift up his leg and stomp down on his captor's foot as hard as he could, Leon didn't give Tobias even an instant to react, continuing the attempt to free himself by slamming the back of his head into the man's face. Next an elbow to the ribs with his free arm, then putting that same elbow into his face, the Agent finished by spinning around to slug his captor in the mouth… only to be surprised when the completely unfazed Tobias caught his fist in his hand.

"I hate to tell you this, kid." The man said with a slight smirk. "But you hit like a girl."

Leon tried to pull back, but couldn't free his hand from Tobias's grip no matter how hard he pulled… that is, until the man let go of him by pushing his fist out of the way, before backhanding the Agent across the face. Strange… it hadn't looked like there was much power behind the blow when it was coming at him, but Leon certainly saw stars for a second when it connected, finding himself stumbling backwards through the door that his captor had been trying to open… and then several more awkward steps before having to catch himself on a small wall-mounted fire extinguisher to keep from falling down.

"I get it, you were picked for this mission because you're the best in your field." Tobias said, slowly walking toward him as the Agent tried to shake it off. "Failure isn't an option, give your life for the cause, _yadda-yadda_ , I've heard it all before. It isn't worth it, though, and I think that deep down you know…

 _Whack!_ The man's words were stopped as Leon, who had sneakily removed the small fire extinguisher from its hook, rammed the bottom of the canister into Tobias's stomach hard enough to make him bend forward. _Whack!_ Now swinging it upward, the red base caught his captor right up under the chin, causing him to reel backwards to where he was slightly leaning back onto one of those stacks of old crates. Not wanting to give him the chance to recover… if such a thing was even _possible_ after taking those blows, the Agent charged toward him while swinging the canister like a baseball bat.

"I'll show _you_ who hits like a girl!" He yelled, putting all of his might behind the next blow.

 _Whack! Whack!_ Striking Tobias across the face so hard that his sunglasses were shattered as he spun around, Leon brought it down onto his lower back, making him fall face first onto the crates, and then again on the back, making the man slide down so that he was on his knees on the floor. Taking a moment to catch his breath, since swinging the canister was a bit more difficult than using a wooden bat, he was in the middle of making one more swing to finish his captor off… when Tobias reached up and easily caught the extinguisher in his hand.

Not only did he catch the canister after taking those hits, but now the man was holding it in place so that the Agent couldn't stop him from slowly getting to his feet. This _wasn't_ possible, Leon thought, becoming frightened since any _one_ of those hits should have killed the man, let alone _four_ of them, but Tobias wasn't even breathing hard as he got to his feet… but then it all made sense when the Agent saw his _eyes_ … his _glowing yellow_ eyes that would have been identical to the way Claire Redfield had described the resurrected Albert Wesker's eyes, well… if there had been some _red_ in there, too.

"Are you about finished?" Tobias asked as the canister shook a little from Leon's continued efforts. "I can do this all day, you know."

The Agent had a feeling that the man… no, not a _man_ … this _creature_ was telling the truth, and if he really was something similar to Wesker, then there was no way Leon was going to be able to overpower him, but… but then he caught a glimpse of Tobias's revolver. In an act of desperation, he shoved the canister into his captor's face, and then grabbed the revolver from his shoulder holster… only to yelp in pain as the creature brought the canister down onto his hand just as he was trying to aim.

 _Bang_! The weapon fired just as it was knocked from the Agent's grip, causing some sparks and a ricochet as the bullet struck the wall somewhere back toward Lucia's holding cell, and then the wind was knocked completely out of Leon when Tobias raised his foot up and booted him in the chest. The Agent's feet left the floor as he flew backwards, rolling and bouncing down the corridor until coming to a sudden stop against a support beam; his whole body feeling sluggish with a dull throbbing pain all throughout.

"And what do we have here?" Tobias asked, his attention suddenly focused on something that had fallen from Leon's pocket. "I doubt that spies like you carry _ID badges_ , so what…

The creature's words stopped once he saw that it was an old RPD badge that the Agent had dropped, and Tobias seemed confused for a minute as he looked at it. This confusion only lasted for a few seconds, though, replaced by a sudden expression of anger as he stomped over to where Leon was still slumped on the floor. Grabbing him by the front of his shirt, the creature lifted him to his feet with almost no effort at all, before shoving the badge in his face, stating that _he better have a damn good reason for having that_.

"It's _mine_!" Leon groaned, turning his head to get the badge off his nose. "I was a cop back in Raccoon City, all right?!"

"No, it's not _all right_." Tobias replied angrily, taking something out of his pocket. "Because if it was, then you and me would have something in _common_ , wouldn't we? Look at this!"

The object that the creature had taken from his pocket, to the Agent's amazement, was another RPD badge, although much older looking, and with the word _LIEUTENANT_ written on the bottom instead of Officer. No, this wasn't possible, Leon _again_ found himself thinking… first Wesker, and now _this guy_? Just how many senior officers of the RPD was Umbrella planning on bringing back to life? What, was _Brian Irons_ going to show up next?

"That's right, I carried a badge in Raccoon City for _fourteen years_." Tobias hissed, now lifting him completely off the floor with one hand. "I know the names and faces of everyone who served in the department… so why don't I know you, if you were a cop? Answer me, _boy_ , and it better be good, or I'm gonna rip your heart out through your chest."

"I was only there for a day… not even a _full_ day!" Leon explained when the corner of the badge was put to his chest like a knife. "I was an emergency replacement… when I got there almost everyone was dead, so me and Claire Redfield, we fought our way out before the whole place was destroyed."

Aw, crap, he hadn't meant to mention Claire, since no one was supposed to know that she had escaped with him, but in fear and panic the Agent had accidently revealed this information for a second time. Of course, Leon found himself caught off guard once again when the creature's yellow eyes widened at the mention of Claire's name, and then the Agent was being lifted up even higher. Letting out a pained _oof_ when he was slammed down on his back on top of the crates, Leon couldn't help but scream when Tobias pinned him down before dragging the sharp corner of the police badge across his chest like it was a box cutter.

"I _know_ Claire Redfield, you little _prick_!" The creature yelled over Leon's scream as a red line slowly appeared along the cut. "I put her through the _Scared Straight_ program back when she was _fourteen_ ; calling herself a _street artist_ by tagging City Hall. So, not only do you want me to believe that you just wandered into the middle of the outbreak without noticing _anything_ , but also that a little _brat_ who cried the first time she was yelled at, helped you escape? I was the head of Homicide for _five years_ , it's kind of hard to lie to me."

Hold on a second, something had been triggered in the Agent's mind after hearing that last statement… memories of being in the police station, when that green-coated monster had been chasing him through the offices. For a moment, just a moment, he was a rookie cop again, running for his life, and hiding underneath a desk inside of the small enclosed office… an office that had the name _Tobias Liquid_ on the window.

"Wait, wait… _the final word_." Leon said, trying to stop from being cut again. "The final word; that was _your_ gun under the desk… that was _your_ desk I hid under when that _thing_ was after me!"

Instead of cutting him again, the creature stopped, now just kind of looking at him with those awful glowing eyes as if suddenly not sure what to make of him. Of course, that no longer mattered once both of them caught a glimpse of movement near the door where they had come in. There was a woman standing there, someone who Leon had never seen before, but whoever she was, she didn't hesitate raising the _Steyer Tactical Machine-Pistol_ in her hands, and opening fire.


	9. Chapter 9 Unexpected Help

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Nine: Unexpected Help**

 _Ratta-tatta-ratta-tatta!_ Flashes of light illuminated the doorway as the unknown woman with long red hair began shooting, but as dozens of casings bounced off the floor and the noise echoed throughout the corridor, Leon was surprised to find that he was not the one being aimed at. A few of the bullets missed their mark, sparking as they bounced off the walls, but most of them struck Tobias in the torso, making the creature cry out in pain as he was driven back; arms up in a futile attempt to protect himself as he was struck again and again.

Little splashes of discolored red blood came out of each wound, leaving a light spray pattern that was easily visible against the gray metal and concrete, but as many times as Tobias was hit, including one instance where the small caliber bullet slammed right into the side of his head… the creature was still on his feet… although his yellow eyes didn't seem to be glowing nearly as brightly as they had been before, if that meant anything.

 _Click._ Finally the woman's TMP ran out of ammo, leaving the corridor suddenly silent as smoke flowed out from the woman's barrel, and Tobias's now shaking arms slowly lowering. In fact, his _whole_ body was trembling a little as if the hail of gunfire had really taken it out of him… well, the Agent certainly _hoped_ that it had done some damage, given that the creature had been shot more than two dozen times with an extended clip, which the mystery woman was now trying to quickly reload.

"You… little… _bitch_." Tobias growled, the last of the glow fading from his eyes as several of his wounds started closing. "I'm… going… to…

The creature had started to walk toward her, when there was more movement as this time a man with short black hair came through the door, getting in front of the mystery woman while at the same time aiming the _Benelli M3 Shotgun_ that was in his hands. Boom! Click-click. Boom! The first shell halted Tobias's advance as it struck him in the stomach, and then the second one sent him reeling backwards from a direct hit to the chest that nearly tore all the way through his body.

 _Click-Click. Boom!_ The third shell hit his neck and part of the creature's face, this time knocking him off his feet, and there he lay motionless on the floor as his own blood pooled around him. Leon, during this whole exchange, had remained where he was on top of the crates, trying to process in his mind everything that had just happened… who were these people? Where the hell did they come from? And more importantly, why did they save him?

"How many more are there?" The red haired woman demanded, grabbing him and pulling him to his feet. "Is the cargo secure? Report, God damn it!"

The Agent tried to say something, but he was too shocked by everything that had happened, to actually form a full sentence, _especially_ without knowing who these two were. Had HQ sent more backup without telling him? Either way, the red haired woman got tired of his blank stare pretty quickly, and instructed her partner, whose name was apparently _Curtis_ , to go and check on what she only referred to as _The Cargo_. Taking a key off his belt, Curtis walked back through the door, opening some of the padlocks on the sealed rooms, and briefly looking inside before locking them again.

"Oh shit!" He suddenly exclaimed, turning back toward them. "Cora, the kid's gone! It looks like someone shot off the… aw crap, look out!"

 _Bang!_ The red haired woman, _Cora_ apparently, turned around just in time to gasp as her cheek was grazed by a bullet fired from a revolver… a revolver that was being held by _Tobias_ and… and how the hell was he still alive? The bullet continued past her down the hallway, sparking as it bounced off the door, and making Curtis cry out when it tore through his leg, making him collapse to the floor. As for Tobias, not _only_ was he not dead _and_ able to fire a weapon while sitting up, but then the creature used the distraction of shooting Curtis in order to crawl away, vanishing around the corner into another hallway before anyone could do anything.

"Damn it!" Cora exclaimed, pulling Leon along as she backed away from where the creature had vanished. "Come on, we gotta go! Help me with Curtis!"

Once again in control of himself, now that she shock of everything had worn off, the Agent stumbled along with her, and found himself putting the wounded man's arm around his shoulder… after stopping a moment to reclaim his lost pistol, which had fallen near the now open door to Lucia's room. The little girl he had seen before was definitely gone, and the padlock that had held the door shut was lying in pieces nearby… must've been hit when Tobias's revolver had first gone off during their struggle.

"Let's go, people, move it." Cora ordered, keeping the hallway covered with her reloaded TMP while Leon helped Curtis along. "We need to regroup and find out what the _hell_ that thing was."

Together the three of them moved down the metal hallway, all the way down toward the other end of the ship, where Cora led them up another stairwell. Passing the engineering and service decks, but stopping at the very lowest of Third Class. Leon thought for sure that they were going to be seen by the passengers, but apparently the ones staying there didn't want to spend much time hanging out in these sparsely decorated lodgings, since there was absolutely no one around.

"All right, in here." She said after using the keycard around her neck on the very first door. "Come on, before somebody sees."

Pushing the door open, they entering what looked like where a bunch of sailors would have slept in an old movie; small cots mounted permanently on the wall, a few random pieces of furniture, and no bathroom… huh, must have been community facilities in the lower class sections. There were also two others, a stocky man and a really petite woman, who didn't seem that surprised, rather only _concerned_ when Curtis was brought in. The small woman immediately took out what looked like a medical kit from underneath her cot, beginning to evaluate the wounded man while Cora quietly pulled Leon aside from everyone else.

"So what are you, _UBCS_?" She asked, folding her arms as she looked him up and down. "What else _could_ you be, the way you just charged in there and attacked the first thing to come snooping around? Well, I got news for you, _Death Wish_ , this isn't one of your _suicide missions_ … if you wanna work with the _USS_ , you're gonna need to use your brain and not just your guns, understand?"

For like the ten thousandth time today, Leon found himself confused by what Cora was saying to him… that is, until he remembered what the acronyms UBCS and USS stood for when it came to dealing with Umbrella. The UBCS, or _Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service_ , was supposedly a group of hired mercenaries that the company sent in on occasion to try and contain situations like the outbreak in Raccoon City. The USS on the other hand, or _Umbrella Secret Service_ , was supposed to be made up of the company's very best, and used for covert operations.

Good news in all this? He had managed to find all of the Umbrella agents onboard the Starlight. Bad news in all this? He was standing right there in the middle of their base like a goon while their leader grilled him. Okay, if the Agent was to survive this, then he needed to pass himself off as some UBCS thug, maybe an officer or something… but wait a second, if these people were working for Umbrella, but Tobias wasn't with them… then who in the hell were he and Gillette working for?

"Okay, we made it back, and everyone's still alive… so yay for that." The red haired woman continued, pulling him back over toward the others. "First introductions: I'm Cora, the Captain of this merry little band. You already met Curtis, our point man; and over here is our sawbones, Katelyn, and our muscle, Tiny. Everyone, this is…

"Uh, Leon." The Agent answered after a slight hesitation. "I'm Leon from, uh… the UBCS."

"Yeah, I _fricken_ thought so, you crazy asshole." Curtis replied, groaning a bit as Katelyn tended to his leg. "Walking right down to the cargo just to lure that thing out, and then taking it on by yourself… you must have balls of solid rock and a _brain_ to match."

Everyone laughed a little at this, including Katelyn, causing her to slip and cause Curtis more pain, which in turn made everyone laugh again. Well, now that the pleasantries were over, and they seemed to accept him, Cora wanted his report on Tobias, as in every single detail he could remember. There was no harm in sharing this, since the creature seemed to want them dead as well, so the Agent told them everything he could, none of which seemed to really interest them until he got to the part about the P-001 tattoo on his forearm.

With a sudden serious look on her face the Captain told Tiny to make sure the door was secure, and then went to her own cot, where she took a small laptop computer out from under the mattress. It was smaller than any that Leon had ever seen before, and proudly displayed the Umbrella Corporation logo when opened, prompting Cora to enter a series of passwords that she typed too quickly for him to see.

"What's all that?" Leon asked.

" _This_ is _UCDB#7_." The Captain replied, pushing her hair back behind one ear before typing again. "Normally I'd shoot you for even knowing that I have it, but you need to know in case for some reason you're the last of us alive."

According to Cora, UCDB#7 stood for the seventh of a series of twelve _Umbrella Corporation Database Backup devices_. It was no secret that the company wasn't doing so well these days, and with more facilities being lost all the time, all elite USS teams were issued a complete backup of all company files, to either be delivered upon the establishment of a new headquarters, or destroyed if the team was compromised.

"Are you telling me that Umbrella's _entire_ database is on that computer _right there_?" The Agent asked, trying to move closer but stopping when she started to close the lid. "As in like… everything?"

"I know, right, one hell of a responsibility." Tiny said, laughing a little. "We're _all_ up the creek if anything happens to it… I bet you wish you stayed on the front lines _now_ , huh, merc?"

Everyone laughed a little again, and Leon did as well, but the whole time his eyes were on that tiny computer. He was going to need these people's help to deal with Tobias, that was for sure, but if he could also somehow get his hands on UCDB#7 and get it back to HQ… then the fight against Umbrella would be over before they could blink. But how was he going to get it?


	10. Chapter 10 UCDB7

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Ten: UCDB#7**

In the short amount of time that Leon spent inside of the USS team's impromptu safe house on the lowest third Class deck, he had learned that Umbrella was definitely transporting illegal cargo and specimens onboard the Starlight… along with a little girl named Lucia, for some reason. This girl, some processed B.O.W. samples, and a container holding something known only as the _R Series_ were their highest priorities, but Cora wasn't going into details, and it was hard to ask questions, since it was unlikely that most UBCS mercs would care about such things, and he couldn't afford to blow his cover again.

However, with the presence of a creature like Tobias Liquid, whom none of the team members seemed aware of, a new priority was set; track down and quietly eliminate the yellow eyed creature before he could cause them any more problems. The Agent was fine with this, since Tobias had seemed like a normal human, before nearly killing him during their altercation, leading Captain Cora to use her special laptop computer: The UCDB#7. It was simpler to call up the data then Leon expected; she just put in the number that had been seen on his tattoo, and the text file appeared.

"That's him, all right." Cora said as an image appeared of Tobias in some kind of prison uniform, sitting down on a chair. "Let's see what the company has to say for themselves."

 _BIO-ORGANIC WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT BUREAU_

 _WHITE UMBRELLA DIVISION/UMBRELLA CORPORATION_

 _File# T-3224/Subject P-001 a.k.a. Liquid, Tobias A._

 _Subject P-001 is the result of a police officer being exposed to massive amounts of highly concentrated P-Epsilon Anti-BOW Gas created by the late Dr. Linda Lo of our Raccoon City Branch, during a supposedly unauthorized investigation of the area surrounding our Arklay Mountains facilities in the spring of 1998. See file designated OPERATION ARKLAY, submitted by Chief Brian Irons of the RPD._

 _As observed in the field by Dr. Lo herself during the '98 T-Virus outbreak in Raccoon City, P-001 possesses not only a complete immunity to all known viral strands, but has the ability to absorb infected cells, which are then stored within his body for later use as what has been described as 'superhuman abilities'. However, these abilities are only temporary, with both potency and duration depending on how much of the virus in question has been absorbed._

 _This absorption can come from direct viral exposure, as well as what can only be described as 'feeding' off of infected specimens. This makes him an ideal countermeasure against future BOW escapes, since he can gather the strength to terminate the subject, and can then be easily recaptured once his 'power' runs out. See full report codenamed NECROPOLIS, submitted by Dr. Lo shortly before her unfortunate termination._

 _WARNING: P-001 is highly contagious through bodily fluid contact, and any personnel or specimens, no matter how valuable to the company, must be destroyed within thirty-five seconds after coming into contact with his blood or saliva. Failure to do so will result in high casualties._

 _P-001 is currently contained within the Sheena Island sub-surface facility, under the belief that Prisoner# 833225, Walker, Elza P., who was captured with him during the outbreak, will remain unharmed at the Rockfort Island facility as long as he cooperates. He must never find out that Walker was terminated during a vivisection procedure less than a month after his capture, and it is recommended that his combat efficiency be tested against subject C-008._

"Well, looks like containment failed on that one." Tiny said, coming over to look at the screen. "And what the hell's a _vivisection_?"

"It's a scientific study performed on live animals." Katelyn answered, having finally finished Curtis's leg. "Basically an autopsy performed while the animal is alive."

A knot formed in Leon's stomach as he thought about how horrific it must have been for an animal to go through something like that, and… and these sick Umbrella bastards did it to one of Tobias's _friends_?! It was suddenly feeling a lot more difficult to work with this USS team, regardless of the threat of the yellow eyed creature, since none of them seemed bothered that a woman was basically dissected alive… but this was no time for personal feelings… he had to stay focused… which was no longer a problem after seeing what came up when Cora typed in C-008.

"That's her! That's Gillette!" The Agent exclaimed, looking at a picture of the brunette wearing the same prison uniform as Tobias, but smiling sweetly and holding up a _peace_ sign with her fingers. "That's Tobias's wife, she's here, too!"

 _BIO-ORGANIC WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT BUREAU_

 _WHITE UMBRELLA DIVISION/UMBRELLA CORPORATION_

 _File# T-3129/Subject C-008 a.k.a. Gillette_

 _Subject C-008 is the eighth trial in a series that marks further improvements on the A and B Tyrant Class Infiltration BOW's, which are designed to be deployed into a combat zone and defeat the enemy without aggression. Whereas the A series was modeled as a wounded friendly soldier seeking shelter with his countrymen, and the B series was a frightened old woman who needed to be looked after, the C series is modeled as a beautiful woman in her 20's, seeking a man who could protect her from the horrors of the war in question._

 _Once taken in by the enemy, C-008 releases viral-infected airborne spores from every sweat gland in her body, with the so far tested ability to infect everyone within fifty meters before fatigue sets in. Unlike the A series, which caused instant 'zombification' upon infection, and the B series, which caused madness and death, the C series' spores first affect the judgement centers of the brain, causing dizziness, nausea, and confusion, as well as complete obedience similar to high doses of Desomorphine._

 _This almost hypnotic state lasts between one to three hours, before the subject degrades into a violent cannibal similar to the T-Virus infected, and there is no known way to reverse this process. Perhaps with continued research, such a 'cure' will be ready in time for the still experimental D Series, or even the E Series, which is still on the drawing board. C-008 is currently contained in the Sheena Island sub-surface facility, and has developed a fondness for Subject P-001 after discovering that her spores did not affect him._

 _WARNING: If containment on C-008 is lost, do not attempt to engage. Call in for reinforcements, and the appropriate action will be executed._

"Appropriate action? Oh, that's rich." Curtis laughed, grunting a little as he walked on his hurt leg. "That's fancy executive talk for _blowing up this whole ship and us with it_ , if they find out she's here."

"The company isn't going to find out _anything_." Cora replied sharply, closing the laptop and placing it back in its hiding place. "All right, that creature is no doubt going to tell the girl about us, so what we need is a plan… and manpower. Leon, _please_ tell me that the company didn't send you here alone."

The debate inside the Agent's head of whether or not to reveal Amanda's presence to the USS team lasted only a second in real time, but to him it felt like an endless debate of the ups and downs, especially if his reluctant partner wasn't willing to cooperate once she found out what was happening. Shit, the blonde woman still had no idea about Tobias or Gillette, but the creature was wounded, so maybe he could get back to her in time if he left right now.

"I'll go and get reinforcements!" He said overexcitedly as fear and concern set in. "I'll be right back!"

"Leon, wait!" Cora called as he ran through the door into the hallway. "Hey, don't go alone! God damn UBCS idiot!"

But the red haired woman's words were lost as he ran from the cabin, and headed back toward the nearest stairwell. It was at the front of the ship, meaning that once the Agent reached the top, he would still have to cross all of the common areas in order to reach the First Class cabins, but… but it was better than trying to take the more direct route down below since Tobias might still be down there. And what about Lucia? What was that poor girl even _doing_ there?

All of these questions burned through his mind like a hot poker; gotta warn Amanda, gotta find Lucia, gotta help the USS fight off Tobias, gotta avoid Gillette at all costs… damn it, what had started out as such a simple recon mission was now snowballing into the world's largest cluster-fuck. _Okay, Leon, calm down_ , he thought to himself as he ran up the stairs, _you were just as scared and frustrated in Raccoon City, but you got through that, didn't you?_

The thoughts about the successful escape from Raccoon City had a slightly calming effect, making him breathe a little easier, which was good because running up the stairs was leaving him almost completely out of breath. Passing up through Third Class, and then seeing sunlight for the first time in what felt like forever as he passed through Second Class, the Agent finally reached the top of the stairs, and exited out into a scene that almost made him forget all about the horrors involved in his mission.

On the sunlit open-air surface of the ocean liner Starlight, there were hundreds of people who looked like they were having the time of their lives. Some people were swimming in the pool, while others, mostly women, were working on their tans in white chairs around it, and that was only in the area around him. Everywhere, walking into and back out of all everything the ship had to offer, were happy newlywed couples, all dressed up like something out of _The Love Boat_ … completely oblivious to the danger they were in.

"Gotta warn Amanda." He whispered to himself, feeling like a fish swimming upstream as he made his way across the deck. "Gotta warn Amanda, and then report to HQ. Yeah, simple enough… you can do that."

Paranoia was starting to itch the back of his head as well; worrying that every man he saw in a red flowered shirt was Tobias, and that every beautiful brunette that walked past him could have been Gillette, but so far none of them were. A few passengers yelled at him when he walked right across their game of _Shuffleboard_ , and if Leon hadn't looked forward again at the last minute, he might have walked right into a few musicians who were playing the drums on the terrace for live entertainment before the big shows started that night.

It felt like it took an hour, but finally the Agent made it back to the First Class section, leaning against the wall to catch his breath while waiting for the elevator to come down, since his cabin was at the very top, and he was about done with stairs for a while. With a soft _ding_ the doors opened a few seconds later, and Leon sighed with relief when they closed again once he was inside. Now all he had to do was walk about fifty feet to the cabin once it reached the top, and then _HQ_ could decide what was his best course of action.


	11. Chapter 11 Degraded

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Eleven: Degraded**

 _All right, Leon, just stay composed for a few more seconds_ , he thought after leaving the elevator. _That's right, smile and wave to the passengers who have no idea they could be killed at any moment_ … all he had to do was keep himself from starting a panic or getting locked up if the crew thought he was crazy. Like all people faced with extreme situations, the Agent's first instinct was to warn as many people as possible about not only the threat of Tobias and Gillette, but of what Umbrella was transporting as well on the lowest deck as well.

No one would have believed him if he did, though, and that was the sad part. If he had done what was technically the right thing, everyone would have laughed at him just like the people of Raccoon City had done to STARS back in '98, with him being punished instead of being hailed as a hero like Claire's brother and his partner, Jill should have been. No, he couldn't warn anyone… anyone except Amanda and their headquarters, this feeling causing a quick sensation of relief when he finally walked back into his cabin.

"Amanda? Oh, thank _God_ you're still here." He said upon seeing her leaning against the wall of the main room. "Tobias and Gillette are _both_ BOW's, and Umbrella is _definitely_ moving materials on onboard. Come on, grab your weapon and the radio transmitters, we gotta go, like _right now_."

"Go?" The blonde woman asked, using her arm to kind of push herself off the wall. "But I want to stay _here_ , Leon… with _you_."

She stumbled just a little when she started to walk toward him, and her head kind of rolled back and forth, while her voice was just slightly slurred as if she had been drinking. Having been leaning against the wall in the shadows, the Agent saw when she stepped back into the light that Amanda was no longer dressed like a tourist who was about to explore the ship, but she was now wearing a silk nightgown that really… didn't cover that much.

"Amanda, what are you doing?" Leon asked, walking over to her. "We don't have time for playing husband and wife; we're both in _real_ danger, and we have to get out of here before Tobias heals up. Him and Gillette… they _look_ like people, but they're _not_ , and trust me, we're no match for them by ourselves, so let's go."

"No, Leon, wait." His partner argued, some drool running from her mouth as she grabbed him by the arms. "Leon, she… she made me see how bad… how bad of a wife I've been to you. There's… there's… there's no way out, but… but she gave me enough time… enough time to tell you that… that I love you, Leon… enough time to tell you before… _BEFORE I DEGRADED_!"

Now locking her hands onto his wrists with a grip far stronger than the Agent would have thought, Amanda let out a kind of gasping, groan as she began to change right before his eyes. Her eyes, which had already been lightly glazed over, were suddenly filled with a milky cloud so thick that they almost appeared to be white, while her skin became pale and discolored. A few of her teeth fell out, as did portions of her now withered hair, and for a second Leon thought he was having a nightmare, because she looked _just like_ the T-Virus zombies that he had seen in Raccoon City.

This was no nightmare, though… he was wide awake, and his partner was _oh shit_! With a feral groan, the blonde woman rushed toward him, biting at his face while keeping her grip on his wrists. The only thing the Agent could think to do was back away, stopping her quickly yellowing teeth from reaching his skin, but also taking her with him all the way back to the opposite wall, where she again tried to bite him.

He managed to get a hold of her throat, holding her back a little while she fought to pull his hands away; snarling and biting at him like a crazed animal until he was finally able to bring his leg up to get his foot planted into her stomach. With a mighty push that was a lot harder to do than he expected, Leon managed to send her stumbling backwards to where she was leaning on the sofa. This only stunned Amanda for a second, but that was all that the Agent needed in order to take out his pistol.

 _Bang_! A single shot right to the forehead, leaving a splatter of discolored blood behind her as the bullet exited, and the fight was over. The blonde woman collapsed in mid-step toward him, leaving Leon just kind of standing there in shock, his weapon still pointed straight forward even though the monster was lying on the floor in a slowly spreading pool of her own foul smelling blood.

So what was going to happen now, he wondered? If the other passengers had heard the shot, would they report it? Was the ship's _Master at Arms_ , or whatever, they were called going to come and bang on the door at any moment, or would the passengers be typical Americans and just ignore it? Waiting there for a minute… two minutes… three… so far there was no pounding on the door, no rushing of security personnel… and the Agent couldn't afford to wait there any longer even if there _was_ someone coming.

 _The radio transmitters!_ Yeah, he needed to contact HQ before doing anything else, so he ran over to the bed where Amanda's largest bag was still lying from when they had first boarded, unzipped the top and pulled it open to find… no radio transmitters. No need to panic, the devices were small, so they could have simply fallen down underneath the blonde woman's clothes, so the Agent rifled through them, pulling out everything in the bag to reveal a… a handwritten note? What the hell was this?

 _Dearest Leon;_

 _I know that you are probably looking for your little toys, but you can stop because I destroyed them. You might be a little angry, but think of it as a reason to spend a little more time with your wife, since she really doesn't have much time left before she degrades. After all, family is the most important thing, isn't it?_

 _Hugs and kisses,_

 _-Gillette Liquid_

"You were _supposed_ to have a bit longer than this." A voice said, making Leon's mouth run dry as he dropped the note. "But from my side, I didn't expect you to be out so long."

He already knew who that voice belonged to, but that didn't stop the sinking feeling in his stomach from getting stronger when the Agent slowly turned his head to see Gillette Liquid standing over Amanda's remains. The brunette knelt down and closed the zombie's eyes almost like a form of respect for the dead, patting Amanda on the head and staying there for a moment before she got back up… and began walking toward Leon.

 _Bang! Bang! Bang!_ Scooting backwards so fast that he ended up doing a kind of crab walk across the floor, the Agent no longer cared about what the other passengers heard, taking out his pistol and pulling the trigger several times at the approaching monster. He had hoped that bullets would have had the same stunning effect on her as they had on Tobias, but Gillette barely even twitched as she was hit in the chest and face again and again, like she didn't even notice that she was being shot.

Suddenly the corner of the wall was behind him, leaving Leon nowhere to go as his pistol clicked empty, and then the brunette was there, standing _right over him_. First she took the empty pistol from his hand, and tossed it over her shoulder so that it landed over near the door, before suddenly grabbing him by the forearm and effortlessly pulling him to his feet. At that moment the Agent was sure that he was going to die; infected like Amanda or just tipped apart since Gillette seemed to be even stronger than Tobias… but instead she actually straightened his collar and brushed off the wall dust he had gathered on his shoulder.

"I don't like violence, Leon, I never have." She said, smiling sweetly without the slightest hint of aggression. "I understand why you shot me, since I turned Amanda into a zombie and all, but you also shot my husband thirty times, so we're even, right? Tobias is _fine_ , by the way, and he made me _promise_ not to infect you, because he wants you _all to himself_. So nice to see you boys getting along."

"All right, Gillette, just… just listen to me for a second, okay?" The Agent replied, trying to keep his voice _and_ body from shaking. "I know what you and Tobias are, but it doesn't have to be like this; no one else has to get hurt, okay? I know you're not with Umbrella, so what do you want? Why are you doing all this?"

In response, the brunette put her finger to his lips and made a soft shushing sound, before beckoning him to come closer like she was going to whisper something in his ear… and seeming not to notice that the knob on the cabin door was quietly starting to turn. Just as quietly and slowly the door opened once the latch was all the way open, and there stood Captain Cora of the USS team, trying to be silent as she poked her head through… her TMP partially hidden under the tropical shawl she was wearing.

"Amanda told me _all_ about how you two are US government agents." The brunette said, not attempting to lower her voice. "So, since you're no friend of Umbrella, I'm willing to make you a deal: You will assist me in locating storage container R-002, and in return I won't infect this _entire_ ship in order to find it on my own. Your _friend_ standing in the doorway can even help you if she wants… trust me, she's gonna _need_ new friends pretty soon."

Patting Leon on the cheek, and then putting another folded piece of paper into the front pocket of his shirt, Gillette turned toward Cora, who already had her TMP ready. The Agent urgently shook his head, trying to signal to her that shooting the brunette was a _really_ bad idea, and thankfully the Captain got the message. Instead of shooting, the red haired woman just kind of stepped out of the way so that the monster could walk by.

"You two would make such cute couple." Gillette said, winking at her as she opened the door. "You have until tonight to give me the container… that flyer is where I'll be."

She ran her finger lightly under Cora's chin while leaving the cabin, and then the brunette was gone, which finally allowed Leon to breathe out the longest sigh of relief in his life as he slowly sunk down to the floor. Raccoon City had been bad, but all this… what the hell had he gotten himself into?


	12. Chapter 12 Cora's Plan

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Twelve: Cora's Plan**

The piece of paper that Gillette had put into Leon's pocket had turned out to be a flyer for the schedule of live entertainment shows that would be performed throughout the cruise, with one particular show circled in black marker. The date was for tonight, listing a performance of the Starlight's very own orchestra, along with something that looked like a last minute change to the venue. That change was listed as the debut of _singing sensation_ Gillette Liquid, making it pretty obvious that she planned to release he spores _en mass_ when most of the passengers were gathered together.

"We have to stop Gillette _before_ she gets on stage tonight." Cora said as they walked back down the stairwell toward the USS base. "Maybe if we tell her that we'll give up that container she wants, then all of us can ambush her at the same time, and try to overpower her."

Well, Leon certainly liked the odds of all five of them attacking the brunette instead of facing her alone, but it was still pretty risky, since Gillette hadn't even _blinked_ while being shot several times in the face, as well as the wounds closing up almost instantly. Whatever they were going to do, it had to be done soon, since there were only a couple hours left before sundown, and… and it was clear that the Captain had heard everything that Gillette said to him, so he needed to clear the air if they were going to work together.

"Look, Cora, about what Gillette said back there." He began, stopping her when they reached the next landing. "You know, about me being an US agent and all."

"Right, at least now we know she's not very smart." The red haired woman replied, almost laughing. "I mean, what kind of idiot would believe that you are a secret American agent, when I found you, for the second time, throwing yourself into danger like a moron. Seriously, Leon, you're like the _poster boy_ for the UBCS."

Then her tone became serious as she put her hands on his shoulders, and began to lecture him about the way he operated; saying that she didn't know whether he was on death row before being recruited or whatever his story was, but that he needed to stop trying to purposely get himself killed. She even went so far as to say that his life was more valuable than that, which was kind of sweet, considering she worked for people who didn't give a damn about human life, and after all this was done, all the Agent could say was _'okay'_ , no longer having the heart to reveal his true loyalties.

"I'm sorry about your partner, too." Cora added once she was convinced that his _death wish_ was gone. "From what Gillette was saying, I take it you were lovers, and I know how painful it can be to lose them… but you gotta put your love for her aside for now, and make the mission come first."

Leon didn't like having her think that he and Amanda had bene together in that way, but the Captain was right about them having bigger problems to worry about… and even more when they finally got back to their secret base down in Third Class. Upon opening the door to the small cabin, they were greeted by the rusty smell of blood, and that was probably because it was splattered all over the walls. Furniture was overturned, one of the cots had been knocked off the bolts that held it to the wall, and amongst the carnage were the bodies of the USS team.

There were no bullet holes in the floor or walls, so whatever had happened must have happened quickly, leaving all three of them on the floor, twisted into unnatural positions with expressions of agony left on their faces. There was no way that Gillette had done this, since she seemed to genuinely hate violence, which left really only a single other suspect as to who the culprit was.

"Oh, fuck!" The red haired woman exclaimed, rushing over to her own overturned cot. "Oh, no… no, no, no, no! It's gone! UCDB#7 is _gone_!"

It was true, the computer database was no longer in its hiding place when she looked, instead finding a pair of old Raccoon City Police Badges in its place. Now there was no doubt that Tobias Liquid had been responsible, probably having done this at the same time that Gillette was talking to them up in First Class. Every piece of usable equipment in the room was destroyed; radios pulled apart, weapons bent in half, even Katelyn's medical supplies were smashed on the floor.

"He must have followed us when we thought he ran away." Leon suggested, still in awe of the destruction that creature was capable of. "Of course he followed us, I'm so stupid, he used to be a detective. Come on, we gotta get out of here before he comes back."

Cora nodded, following him back out the door, but then stopping for a moment to hang a do not disturb sign on the doorknob just like she had done at the cabin containing Amanda. After all, it would only start a panic if someone discovered the bodies, and then it would be even harder to do anything about Gillette with people screaming and running around. Worst case, the monster would just release her spores early and infect everyone anyhow, so what they needed to do was be as stealthy as possible while… just what the hell were the going to do, anyway?

"Those assholes want to kill my friends, do they?" The red haired woman hissed, wiping a tear from her cheek while stomping back down the stairs. "Fine… that's just fine… they're not the _only_ BOW's on this ship, you know."

"Cora, wait, what do you mean by that?" Leon asked, trying to keep up with her. "What do you mean, there's other BOW's here? And what does that have to do with our problem?"

She didn't answer his question until they reached the lowest deck of the ship, leaving the Agent feeling uneasy since this was the same place where he had been nearly beaten to death by Tobias… with the feeling only getting worse as the Captain explained her plan. Taking a key from around her neck, and using it to open one of the locked metal doors that he had seen earlier, Leon was surprised to see that the room contained come kind of refrigerated storage unit that was a lot bigger than a man. At first he thought that this was the container that Gillette was looking for, but then he noticed that the markings read _R-005_ , when the brunette had specifically said R-002.

"Okay, here's the plan." Cora began, switching a control panel from _AUTO_ to _MANUAL_ with the press of a button. "You go up and lure Gillette down here, tell her that we'll give her what she wants. Then I release _this_ nasty creature, and the two of them tear each other to pieces, so that we can shove them both back inside the container when they're weakened."

"Cora, that… is the _dumbest_ thing I've ever heard." Leon replied without hesitation. "We aren't going to solve a problem like this by releasing _another_ BOW onto the ship, that's just…

Suddenly his words were interrupted when the red haired woman grabbed him by the jaw, shoving him up against the opposite wall, while putting the barrel of her TMP into his stomach. Apparently the loss of her _entire team_ had left her a little unfeeling toward, shown by how she started to cry even though there was nothing but anger across her face, and the Agent knew enough to keep his mouth closed when a woman looked at him like that.

"Soldier, there are only _two_ ways this can go." She said with an unbelievably cold tone of voice. "You're pretty and you're brave, which is great, but you're naive as hell, so I'm gonna break it down nice and simple for you. You can stand in my way, in which case I'm just going to kill you… or… you can help me avenge my team like a good boy, and when this mission is over, you and I can take our pay and go to a nice tropical island somewhere, where I'm going to _fuck_ you until you can't move. Choose _now_."

"Okay, Cora, okay, we're not enemies here." The Agent answered, hoping that he could calm her down before anything else bad happened. "Okay, if this is how you want to do it, then I'll go up and tell Gillette that we're going to give her what she wants."

"What a _great_ idea." Tobias Liquid said, his yellow eyes glowing again as he stepped out from behind a large pipe with revolver aimed. "Or maybe you could just give it to _me_ right now, and save us all some time."

He must have followed them again, Leon thought as he and Cora put up their hands, allowing her TMP to swing back under her arm on its sling. This kind of continuous stalker bullshit actually made him _wish_ for the days when the bad guys were just a couple of brainless monsters that just followed them around. William Birkin and that green-coated thing had been really hard to handle, but Tobias was just a regular _pain in the ass_ … then again, maybe this was a good thing, since the Captain's idea was just crazy enough to work.

"All right, Tobias, you win… just don't hurt anyone else." He said, keeping his hands up while moving toward the unlocked door. "It's right in there; I'll unlock it, and then you can have it, just let Cora go."

"No, no, red stays _right here_ until you open the container." The creature replied, moving so that the revolver was aimed at the Captain. "I _should_ kill her just for being in the USS, but I'm a man of my word, so if you play it straight with me, I'll let both of you go."

Yeah right, like Leon was going to believe a _word_ that came out of this monster's mouth, so he opened the metal door, moved over to the container, and pressed the only button that was flashing, which was red so hopefully it was the release and not some kind of self-destruct system, in which case they were all dead. _Pop! Pop! Pop!_ With a loud rubber suction sound, the seals on the container were released, allowing a stream of cold air to be released into the small room, and then Tobias pushed the Agent out of the way so that he could see when the container started to open.

"Reynaldo, is that you?" He asked as Leon crept back out into the hallway. "Hey, wait a second, this container isn't R-00…

His words were cut off as a deep, monstrous roar echoed throughout the corridor, and then the container's door was thrown open from the inside, striking Tobias and knocking him down as the very large, mist-obscured figure inside started to climb out.


	13. Chapter 13 The Beast of R-005

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Thirteen: The Beast of R-005**

For a moment as the large humanoid figure pulled itself out of the cold container, Leon could scarcely believe that he had willingly released a BOW from containment, especially one so big. Its shape and bald, tannish-brown colored head reminding him of the green-coated monster that had once stalked him through the RPD, but unlike that blank, emotionless stare of that giant, this one's face had an expression of rage as it stretched and roared again, trying to shake off the after effects of cold storage.

Tobias grabbed his revolver and jumped to his feet, but was stopped in the middle of aiming the weapon when the beast suddenly charged toward him faster than the Agent would have believed something of its size could move. Then again, the giant from the RPD had once sprinted after him, too, so it shouldn't have been that surprising when it collided right into the yellow eyed creature.

The beast was much larger than Tobias, and had no trouble lifting him off his feet before ramming him into the wall so hard that some cracks were formed during the impact, and the revolver fell from his hands as the monster pinned his arms by grabbing his wrists… before some tentacles shot out of its stomach? A series of four large tentacles protruded from the lower center of its naked, genderless torso, each of them at first flailing around in the air like whips… before suddenly stiffening as they all stabbed into the same spot on Tobias.

He screamed as he was impaled deeper and deeper, his discolored blood dripping out onto the metal floor, and the glow quickly leaving his yellow eyes as the tentacles did more damage, as if Tobias's eyes were some kind of indicator of how much viral power he had left… and it was depleting rapidly. Part of Leon felt sorry for him, since he had once been a normal human being, but Cora made him snap out of it, reminding him that they still needed to overwhelm the beast and recapture it once it was done with its first victim.

"This is for my team, _and_ Leon's lover, you asshole!" The Captain yelled as the yellow eyed creature's movements slowed. "Get ready, Leon, it won't be long now."

"You're… right… it… won't." Tobias choked as the tentacles stabbed even further into his body. "I can… feel it… infecting me."

Suddenly the yellow eyed creature stopped struggling, only to turn his head and smile painfully at the two of them… as the glow began to return to his eyes. It was then that Agent remembered another part of the file he had read, the part about Tobias gaining strength by absorbing viral cells… and now the beasts arms were starting to shake as it became a lot more difficult to restrain its victim.

Leon didn't know if they should start shooting or not, since they didn't want to give Tobias an advantage by damaging the beast, but soon the no longer mattered as the yellow eyes creature now began to slowly overpower its arms. Both of them growling with gritted teeth as the beast's arms were being pushed back, Tobias suddenly pulled it toward him for a head-butt that seemed to momentarily stun the monster long enough for him to free one of his hands and grab onto one of the tentacles.

 _Riiiip!_ The sound of tearing flesh as Tobias pulled one of the four tentacles out of himself, completely severing it from the beast, and making the monster howl as the three that remained quickly retracted. Just like that, the yellow eyed creature was free, the wounds on his stomach closing up as he moved forward and slugged the beast right in the wound from its missing tentacle, forcing it to take a step back.

Regaining its balance and slicing at him with one of its clawed hands, Tobias leaned back to avoid it like a boxer dodging a punch, only to swing his fist upward, knocking the beast back another step when his knuckles caught it right under the chin. The monster roared while slashing at him again, but this time Tobias turned around while ducking beneath it, only to drop down onto his hands, and mule-kick the beast in the torso with both feet, sending it stumbling back through the metal door, where it fell down.

"Shoot him!" Cora yelled, chambering a round in her TMP.

Leon was aiming his pistol after taking a second to pick up the fallen .45 Revolver from the floor, when the yellow eyed creature turned and kicked one of the nearby small crates at them, causing the partially rotted wood to break apart in a small cloud of sawdust when it hit them. This in itself didn't hurt or anything, since the crate had been small and partially rotted, but it did make them lose their aim by having to look away from the dust… giving Tobias the chance to close the distance between them.

In a flash of movement, the yellow eyed creature grabbed Cora and bashed her head into the wall hard enough to make her collapse to the floor, and Leon was aiming his pistol to help her, when Tobias gave him a punch to the side of the head that made his vision go white for a second. When it cleared up again, the Agent was being swung around and tossed so hard that he flew right past the metal door where the beast was getting up, slamming onto the hard metal deck, and rolling to a painful stop a good distance away.

"Oh, no you don't." Tobias said, punching the beast's clawed hand hard enough to make it let go of the doorframe. "Get… your… ass… back… in… there!"

With every annunciated word, the yellow eyed creature punched the monster in the face, and once it had been driven back far enough into the room with its container, he slammed the door shut, before bending the entire handle and latch with a metallic _screech_. The trapped beast was enraged, punching the door with all its might, but only succeeding in making a small dent, so it would be a while before it could free itself… but right now Leon needed to summon the strength to get up after taking that hit.

"I wouldn't move if I were you, Leon." Tobias's voice warned. "Someone might get hurt."

The Agent had gotten up to his hands and knees, forced to look up after hearing the taunting in the yellow eyed creature's voice, and then gasping to see that he was holding Cora by the hair with one hand, and her arm twisted behind her back with the other. She started to call for help, but her words turned into an outcry of pain when he roughly pulled her head back, leaving Leon just kneeling there, desperately trying to think of something he could do to save her. His pistol, Cora's TMP, and the revolver were all lying at Tobias's feet, and the wounded beast was still unable to get through the broken door, so… so what could he do?

"Let her go, Tobias!" He yelled, spitting out a little of his own blood. "We need to stop this before anyone else gets hurt… come on, man, you used to be a _cop_ , can't you see that this whole thing is _wrong_?!"

"All you and this piece of Umbrella _trash_ had to do was cooperate, and this would _all_ be over." The yellow eyed creature replied, ignoring Leon's pleas. "But no, in true Umbrella style, you sent a _monster_ after me, so now you get to sit there and _beg_. Go on… beg me for this bitch's life, just like _I_ begged for Elza Walker's… go on… I _dare_ you to ask me for the mercy that those sick fucks _never_ showed her! She… she was only _twenty-three_ years old, and they _dissected_ her!"

Tobias's voice was starting to break, while the glow in his eyes started flashing as if something was wrong with him. For a moment it looked like his grip on the red haired woman was loosening, and it _was_ … the glow had now faded completely from his eyes, and he was letting Cora go, filling the Agent with hope that maybe the yellow eyed creature could be reached, and this whole nightmare could be over without anyone else dying… until Leon's heart nearly stopped when he saw a knife slip down from the Captain's sleeve into her hand.

"No!" He yelled. "Cora don't!"

But it was too late; the red haired woman turned around and stabbed the long blade right into Tobias's heart, twisting and shoving in the blade while shoving him up against the wall. Was this going to be enough, Leon wondered? With his guard down, would a knife to the heart be enough to kill him? The Agent had hoped for a peaceful solution, but if the Captain could actually kill him, then that was all right, too, but it wasn't to be. A lot of the glow had vanished from his eyes when they lit up again, but Tobias was still able to pull out the blade, allowing it to join the other weapons on the floor with a clang while grabbing Cora by the throat.

"Umbrella trash to the end, aren't you?" The yellow eyed creature asked, tightening his grip so that she gagged. "Well, you've all seen what happens when my wife infects someone, but did you ever wonder what happens when _I_ do? Wonder no more!"

Before Leon could do anything to stop it, Tobias opened his mouth and sunk his teeth into Cora's shoulder hard enough to draw blood, and then he just tossed her aside, stopping long enough to pick up his revolver before walking away and closing the door behind him. Cora had fallen to the floor after being discarded, so the Agent scrambled over to her, ignoring the still pounding beast as he helped her up to a kneeling position.

"Cora, are you all right?" He asked, giving her a quick hug and then holding her by the arms. "Why did you stab him? He was letting you go, and now…

"It's okay, Leon." She replied, trying to catch her breath. "I think I'm gonna be okay… I actually feel… pretty good right now for some reason."

The Captain feeling _good_ after being bitten by a BOW like Tobias was the last thing that the Agent expected, but unlike what had happened to Amanda up in the First Class cabins, Cora seemed to be physically fine… even the mark where the yellow eyed creature had bitten her was healing up. _Slam!_ An impact on the warped metal door from the beast trying to get out, produced another small outward dent, meaning that although it would definitely take some time for the trapped monster to get free, there really was no time for just sitting around.

"I don't know how, but we have to stop Gillette from infecting the whole ship." She said as Leon helped her up. "Even if it means we have to call in reinforcements from the company, we have to get rid of her and Tobias _before_ they can escape to the mainland somewhere."

Leon swallowed hard as she made that statement, since _reinforcements_ probably meant fire-bombing the Starlight to the bottom of the ocean, but then again if there was a way to contact Umbrella from there, then there had to be a way for him to contact HQ as well. Either way, the start of any plan of action was to get back up to the upper decks of the ship… but Cora suddenly stopped right before they reached the stairwell, crying out in pain while leaning against the wall as her arms began to shake.

"Cora?" The Agent asked, coming back to her. "Cora, what's wrong?"

Instead of speaking a reply, the red haired woman gasped, crying out in pain as her eyes became completely bloodshot. A second later she started to convulse where she stood, now screaming as her body began to smolder like it was being cooked inside of an oven, giving all of her skin a distinctive reddish-tint while her voice got deeper. Some of her features were changing as well; her teeth that didn't suddenly fall out were becoming discolored and jagged, while the Captain's fingers went through a slight elongation, making them appear more like sharpened claws.

"Oh, my God." Leon whispered in disbelief, taking a step back.

Waves of heat were coming off her body like the distortion above a desert road at noon, and her skin had just finished turning completely red like a boiled lobster… when she attacked.


	14. Chapter 14 Worse and Worse

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Fourteen: Worse and Worse**

If not for the railing in the stairwell, which the now red-skinned and smoldering Cora had walked into during her initial attack, Leon might very well have gotten his throat torn out by her clawed fingers, instead of just feeling a rush of air as they moved past his skin. Gasping and trying to jump back, the Agent tripped over his own two feet, falling hard onto his back as the red-skinned zombie ran around the railing, moving at speeds that he had never believed an infected person capable of… and then shrieking while diving at him.

This time he managed to avoid the attack on his own, rolling out of the way as Cora's clawed fingers sparking against the metal floor where his chest had been, and then trying to scoot farther away while kicking her repeatedly in the face. Except for making her fall back down when his foot hit her arm when she tried to get up, Leon's hits were doing next to nothing, aside from giving him the time he needed to get to his feet and take out his pistol.

 _Bang! Bang! Bang!_ Light and noise echoing throughout the corridor as he pulled the trigger again and again, hitting the red-skinned zombie in the chest, leg, and head, but aside from the leg shot making her fall down again for a second, the thing just _kept coming_. Two more shots and the pistol clicked empty, that being the end of his second and only spare clip, since this had only supposed to have been a simple reconnaissance mission. So he tossed the pistol at her, hitting her reddened forehead with a soft _whump_ , but then had to run when this only seemed to anger her.

She was quick now, too, running faster than the Agent, to the point where he had to dive and roll across a stack of the small crates that he had seen earlier, and Cora's body now seemed to be smoldering ever more when her clawed fingers sliced right through one of the rotting crates, kicking up a small cloud of sawdust… which was intensified when Leon picked up one of the smaller ones, and slammed it down onto her head. The wood splintered apart, making the red-skinned zombie fall to her knees, but then she immediately jumped back up, tackling him to the ground.

He reflexively brought his arms up, jamming his elbow up into her throat to keep her now jagged teeth from biting him, and staying tucked into her body so that her arms couldn't get him like he had learned during training, but _man_ the smoldering heat coming off Cora's entire body was so hot that it was making him sweat profusely… and now it was getting so intense that the barely visible heat waves coming off of her were now giving off the appearance of black smoke… as if she were literally burning up.

Then he saw it; the knife and TMP that she had reclaimed before degrading into… _whatever_ this was that Tobias had turned her into, but the machine pistol was hanging too far away for him to reach without exposing himself to her continuing attempts to kill him… so he pulled the knife from its sheath. _Slice!_ With a wet stabbing sound, the blade was forced up under her jaw, forcing Cora's infected mouth closed and _actually_ holding it that way, but even though the knife was long enough to be stabbing into her brain… it wasn't killing her.

However, the distraction of the knife caused the red-skinned zombie to be put off balance enough for the Agent to grab the TMP, unhook it from the strap around her shoulder, and turn the weapon around. _Ratta-tatta-ratta-tatta!_ Blood sprayed in all directions, burning Leon when it touched his skin as if being sprayed with boiling grease from an oven, and also making Cora fall over sideways. He kept firing as he scooted away from her, emptying the whole clip into her body until there were no more bullets…

"Oh no." The Agent said in disbelief when the red-skinned zombie started to move again. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

But it was no joke; the infected Cora scrambling to her hands and knees in preparation to pursue him once again… but then she stopped, shrieking in what sounded like pain as her rapidly heating body suddenly burst into flames. Now rolling on the floor, flailing her claws and arching her back like she was possessed by the _Devil_ himself, the red-skinned zombie was soon completely engulfed in flames, but now the noise and movements were slowing.

Leon was sure that the fire alarm and sprinklers running along the ceiling would come on at any second, but the fire must have gone out before then, because there was no noise or water… only a large pile of blackened ash where Captain Cora of the USS had been only seconds ago. _Have to get out of here_ , the Agent thought, trying to pull himself to his feet. The beast trapped behind the metal door was putting more and more small dents in the metal, and there was no telling when Tobias was going to come back down to check on things, so he needed to go… _now_.

Now that the adrenaline of recent events was wearing off, Leon found that getting up and retreating down the corridor was no longer as easy as it was before, and he was barely able to hold onto the TMP as he leaned against the wall to steady himself. The Agent had been up and down this corridor a dozen times it felt like, but now it felt a million times longer… only to have the stairwell look like an impossibly daunting task when he finally reached the opposite end from where Tobias had gone.

He had to find a way to contact HQ, he thought while using the railing to start pulling himself up the stairs, if nothing else he needed to contact the Director and inform her of the situation… Tobias and Gillette, that R-005 monster… whatever the hell happened with that kid, Lucia… man, Leon thought… when Umbrella set out to screw a place up, they really went full force. Okay, that was one flight of stairs, only about a million left to… hey, what was that?

From up above where he was, there was a loud kind of thumping sound… no, not a single sound, but multiple ones as if a small group of people were rapidly descending… _oh, fuck_! Suddenly realizing what the rapidly approaching sounds meant, the Agent tried to turn around to run the other way, but now fatigue and muscle failure were setting in, leaving him only able to lean heavily against the railing as five figures came around the stairs above. They weren't Umbrella agents or more infected creatures, like he feared, but normal people… all of them in the uniforms of the Starlight's crew.

"There! Is that him!?" One of them yelled, pointing down. "You, stay where you are!"

"Is that a gun?" Another one asked. "Careful, he's armed!"

Oh no, Leon thought as they ran toward him, he couldn't let himself be taken into custody by the ship's crew, so using the last of his energy, the Agent turned and ran back down the stairwell into the corridor… only to stop in his tracks when more people started running toward him from the other side. _Trapped!_ There was nowhere to go, and the TMP was empty, not that he would have actually started _shooting_ these people.

All of the men were yelling now as they descended upon him from both directions, ripping the weapon from his hands, and then someone must have punched him in the stomach, because suddenly the wind was knocked out of him and he was being forced to bend over the nearby railing. Crying out as his arms were forced behind his back, someone was restraining him by the hair while the _click_ of handcuffs being snapped onto his wrists was both heard and felt.

"Careful boys, he's covered in blood." A gruff voice warned. "Better gag him, too, in case he's a biter."

Suddenly pulled back by the hair, the Agent's outcry was cut off when a _really_ bad tasting rag was shoved into his mouth, and then the crewmembers dragged him back toward the stairs, but turned at the last minute so that he was dragged down one of the other branching corridors that Leon hadn't had a chance to explore… and it was a long one, too, ending up at a small service elevator. Well, _that_ would have been nice to know about, since he wouldn't have had to use the stairs a hundred times… of course he had _bigger_ things to worry about now.

"When we get to the top, make sure there's no one around before we bring him through." The gruff, older looking man from before said as they started up. "Last thing we need is for this _psychopath_ to cause a panic, after everything else he's done."

"Yes, Captain." The one he was talking to replied. "And I've already alerted maintenance to start cleaning up those rooms once everything's documented… boy, if not for that retired cop, this _freak_ might have gotten away with it."

Retired cop, Leon wondered? Oh crap, they must have been talking about _Tobias_ , but… they needed to be warned about him before they ended up infected, too. So the Agent tried to speak through the gag, hoping that they would realize that his words were important from the urgency in his voice and the look in his eyes… unfortunately, the Captain responded by turning around and socking him right in the mouth.

"You keep _quiet_ , freak!" The Captain yelled, punching him in the stomach while some of the others held him up by the arms. "I've been Captain of this ship for _fifteen_ years without a _single_ serious incident, and then on my very _last_ voyage before retirement, I get a God damn _serial killer_ on board!?"

The Captain said some more things, but it was hard for Leon to focus on them while the older man was hitting him with his fists again and again while the others restrained him. Not that the Agent was in any shape to fight back to begin with, thanks to everything that the Liquids had put him through since leaving port, but now he could barely stand, and had to be dragged out once the elevator reached its destination. But where were they taking him, and how was he going to convince them about Gillette's plan to infect the ship if he were gagged and in custody.


	15. Chapter 15 Interrogation

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Fifteen: Interrogation**

"I am _not_ a serial killer!" Leon exclaimed, trying to ignore the pain from his beating. "I'm telling you, I'm an agent of the United States Government, here on a _Top Secret_ mission."

" _Right_ , sure you are, _sure_ , uh-huh." The Captain replied, snorting a little through his beard. "And that's great because I'm _Napoleon Bonaparte_ , and this is my First Mate, _Peter Pan_."

All right, so trying to come clean with the Officers of the Starlight wasn't exactly working out, but what else was the Agent supposed to do, given his current situation? Amanda was dead, and his radio transmitters were destroyed, as was the same with Cora and her entire team, with the addition of that Umbrella backup computer thing vanishing. Let's see, what else had gone wrong today? Oh yes, that little girl, Lucia, was still missing, it was only a matter of time before that R-005 creature broke out of its impromptu cage, and there were two high-level BOW's getting ready to infect the entire ship.

Last, but certainly not least, was the fact that Leon himself, had been placed under arrest by the ship's crew. Dragged away from the common areas of the ship, he was taken into a mostly empty storage room behind a security station, where he was rather roughly handcuffed to a wooden chair with his hands behind his back. As far as they knew, he was responsible for the deaths of Amanda, Cora, and the others who were found in the USS headquarters cabin, not that they _knew_ it was a base for Umbrella agents.

The evidence against him was pretty damning, too, given that there hadn't been time to test for fingerprints or anything like that, but what they _did_ have were pictures that looked like they had been taken from a _polaroid_ camera; showing the Agent leaving Amanda's cabin and the one at Third Class, both showing what looked like a body lying on the floor through the partially opened door, and in both cases he was being pursued by Cora… who was dead on the floor of the lowest deck, next to the pistol that he had been seen carrying in the other pictures.

"Look, this is all circumstantial." Leon argued when confronted by the pictures and empty pistol, as well as the knife and TMP he had been carrying during the arrest. "Amanda and Cora were infected by the same virus that destroyed Raccoon City, and I didn't even know that the others were dead until we went back there for help."

There was no point in hiding anything else from them, since there wasn't much time before Gillette unleashed her spores on the whole ship, so the Agent gave them every detail he had; the illegal Umbrella cargo, the USS team, what Tobias and Gillette were doing, everything in the hopes that it could all be stopped in time. He figured that after what had happened in places like Raccoon City and Sheena Island, that people would have been more open to things like zombie outbreaks, but these men were just not having it.

"Uh, Captain, Mrs. Liquid is here." One of the others said, poking his head through the door. "She's a little upset, but she says that she's willing to give us an ID on the suspect."

"Brave girl… send her in." The Captain replied before Leon could say anything else. "Now we'll get to the bottom of this."

The door was held open long enough for Gillette to walk in, looking like she had been crying, but the Agent saw right through it. He tried to yell out a warning to them of what she rally was, scooting the chair back across the floor and pulling at his handcuffs. The brunette acted like she was terrified of this spectacle, gasping and running into the Captain's arms while the First Mate slugged Leon in the mouth to make him stop, before gagging him again.

"I'm so _very_ sorry about this, Mrs. Liquid." The Captain said, now keeping himself partially between her and Leon. "Perhaps you'd like to wait until your husband finishes up on the lower decks?"

"No, no, I'm fine." Gillette answered, her voice breaking a bit as she stepped away from him. "My husband says that men like him _want_ us to be scared and upset, and if Tobias can do an investigation for you after everything he went through in Raccoon City, then I can at least cooperate up here."

The Agent had to admit, this woman certainly put on a good show, and if he hadn't seen what she was capable of with his own eyes, he might have believed her, too. She was so sweet and innocent looking, but it was all a lie… the brunette was worse than _anything_ he had faced in Raccoon City, mostly because he knew that she could infect everyone in the room at any time, and there was nothing that could be done about it.

"I _warned_ Amanda not to marry this guy." Gillette continued, a little bit of anger forming in her voice. "He just rubbed me the wrong way, but Amanda was my best friend since high school, and she told me to give him a chance. They seemed so happy, and I got them tickets for the cruise after I found out I was going to be performing on stage, but I didn't… oh God, is this all _my_ fault? Did I get my best friend killed!?"

Now she burst into tears, causing the Captain to hold her in a comforting manner, while Leon did his best not to roll his eyes. She didn't know Amanda, nor was any _other_ part of that story true, but the Agent didn't make a scene just yet, for fear that they would just start hitting him again. No, once the brunette's little performance was finished, they would have to take off the gag in order to continue questioning him, and then… and then the door opened again, making Leon's heart sink a little when Tobias walked in.

"Captain, I have some really important news." The yellow eyed creature said excitedly, adjusting his sunglasses after Gillette ran into his arms. "When I was lifting fingerprints off those weapons, I noticed a distinctive marking on the ridge, and if I'm right, then we're about to solve a cold case here. I, um… need to see your suspect's right hand, please."

Nodding, the Captain snapped his fingers, and then Leon cried out into his gag as the First Mate and the other one grabbed the wooden chair, knocking it forward so that the Agent was pinned down with his face pushed into the concrete deck. Crying out again when Tobias twisted his finger so hard that it felt like it almost broke, Leon was held there for more than a minute while the yellow eyed creature examined his hand.

"It figures that you would show up again after Raccoon City was destroyed." Tobias said with excitement in his voice as the chair was up-righted. "You probably thought you were safe just because all the evidence was destroyed during the outbreak, but I remember your fingerprints."

Just like with Gillette's performance, Leon had no clue what he was talking about, but started to get worried when the yellow eyed creature began to describe a case back in '96 where some students were killed at Raccoon City Community College… adding that the killer was never caught, but he left fingerprints. This was _bullshit_ , the Agent thought, he hadn't even been to Raccoon City until '98, and then it was only for a day, so he _couldn't_ have killed those kids. Why were the Liquids lying about this? What was the point?

"One thing's for sure, his name _isn't_ Leon Kennedy." The yellow eyed creature continued. "No one knows what his name _really_ is… at the RPD we all just started calling him _The Happy Camper_ , due to his taste for _boys_ just as much as he liked the girls and…

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Liquid… I get the idea." The Captain interrupted. "This man is a dangerous killer, but we'll keep him locked up in here until we reach port, and then the European authorities can have him. Thank you both for your assistance, and… I know this is a trying time, so I'll send word to cancel your performance tonight, Mrs. Liquid."

"No, you can't." Gillette immediately replied. "This is what criminals like him want… I'll be fine, I just… I just need a little time to collect myself before I go on. Tobias, can we go back to our cabin?"

The Captain allowed them to go, and then started to say something to Leon, but apparently decided against it, instead just using his foot to slowly tip the chair backwards until the Agent cried out into his gag as he found himself falling onto the floor once again with a loud _crash_. The Agent expected to get hit a few more times, but instead the Captain turned off the lights before walking out of the room, and locking the door behind him with a hard _click_. What, was that it? Are you serious? He didn't even get a chance to defend himself, and… aw, fuck, what was he going to do now?

Not in complete darkness, thanks to the dim orange glow of the service light above an electrical panel, but with his wrists and ankles cuffed to the chair, what was he supposed to do? Struggling against his restraints… that didn't work… trying to up-right the chair so that he could break it… that didn't work, either… calling for help… he was gagged, and there was no one left who _could_ help him. Huh… this was a new feeling for the Agent, being completely alone… even in Raccoon City there had been Ada and Claire… but now he was alone… now he was scared.

"Leon?" A sot voice asked from somewhere in the darkness. "Leon, are you in there?"

Well, it wasn't like he could answer through the gag, nor could he see where the voice was calling from… that is, until he heard a small metallic knocking sound, and his eyes had adjusted enough to see that it was coming from an air vent way up high. Was there someone inside the air vent? Was anyone onboard even small enough? Wait, there was one person onboard who was… so he called through the gag, hoping that the voice belonged to who he thought it did.

"Oh good, you _are_ in there." Lucia's voice answered. "Are you all right?"

"Lucia!" The Agent exclaimed louder than he intended, once he was able to push off the gag with his tongue. "Lucia, do you have anything I can use to get out of these handcuffs?"

The little girl was silent now, making him worry that she had left him, but then her sudden reply that she would be right back actually scared him a little when it cut through the silence. Lucia was about as unlikely of an ally as he could have imagined… next to little Sherry Birkin, anyhow, but as she was heard climbing through the vents away from him, Leon realized that she was his only hope of finding a way to stop Gillette.


	16. Chapter 16 Breathless

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Sixteen: Breathless**

The remaining daylight hours passed quickly, leaving Gillette Liquid feeling slightly anxious about her upcoming performance as the sun finished setting. Soon the last bits of orange and red light left the horizon, making way for the stars that were now decorating the sky of this clear night, along with a beautiful full moon that cast its silvery glow upon the open air decks of the Starlight. Where the hundreds of passengers had been in their swimsuits by the pool only hours before, everyone was now in their finest formalwear, as if going to the royal ball.

Gillette was looking her finest, too; wearing a sparkling black dress with thin straps and polished, ankle-strap heels that took a minute to get used to. Her complexion was kind of light, so she went with a darker shade of lipstick and eye-liner, but not too much, and then with a final touch of putting up her hair in a way similar to how she had seen it done at formal parties on TV, the brunette was ready.

Her husband was still off doing… whatever he was putting together involving Leon Kennedy, when he should have been looking for container R-002… so why was Tobias wasting so much time on someone who should have simply been killed or infected from the beginning? It made no sense, but then again a lot of things that her husband did made no sense at all, at least not at first, only to all fit together in the end in ways that she never would have guessed. He was kind of like _Columbo_ , she supposed, doing strange and random things in order to fit with some elaborate plan to catch the bad guys… it was one of the things she loved about him.

Now doing a quick spin in front of the full length mirror in the performer's dressing room, Gillette was pleased with how her outfit turned out, given that she had to borrow it from the girl who had originally been scheduled to perform tonight. Of course, a few spores _here_ , a random woman diving overboard when nobody was looking _there_ , topped off with a few influenced changes to the entertainment billing, and poof, she was a debut performer onboard the Starlight.

Outside the band could be heard playing some classical songs that she had heard before but didn't know the name of, and the murmuring voices of gathering passengers for the evening meal and entertainment meant that it was almost time for her to go on… and what a show it was going to be. Tobias had come up with two very simple plans for what they were trying to accomplish onboard the ship: Sneak around and find the container… and if _that_ didn't work, then infect everyone onboard, and have _them_ find it in the time before they degraded.

"Ten minutes to show time." One of the stewards said after knocking on the doorframe. "Break a leg out there, Mrs. Liquid."

She nodded to him as he left, a smile starting to form on her lips just like every time that someone called her _Mrs. Liquid_. Looking down at the small diamond ring on her finger, Gillette's smile got even bigger since she knew that her husband was going to be watching her performance… leading to something else that she didn't understand. Back in the lab where she was created, the Umbrella scientists programmed her to want a man to take care of her more than anything, so… so why had they been so frightened when she became romantically involved with Tobias?

Oh well, all those people were either dead, or wandering around the ruins of the laboratory as mindless zombies… serves them right for trying to break up her family… a break up that was going to be repaired by the time this cruise was over. Soon everyone onboard was going to assist with that, at least for a few hours before they became useless, deranged cannibals, but if better results were desired, then maybe Umbrella should have refined her spores more instead of just saying _'oh well, we'll get it right with the D and E series'_.

Immediately after the band finished playing the next song, the host of the night's entertainment got on stage and began to speak, which was Gillette's cue to head out to behind the curtain, awaiting for her name to be announced. The band members themselves seemed to be holding up all right, and it was a good thing that the rich, oblivious passengers of the Starlight didn't take a closer look at the people playing the instruments, since they might have noticed some drooling and eyes swimming around in their heads… but they were only needed for a little while, and there was still more than an hour before they were going to degrade.

"And so without further ado." The host concluded after only a couple people laughed at his last attempt at making a joke. "The crew of the Starlight proudly presents, in her debut performance, the beautiful and talented Gillette Liquid."

Applause rang out as she walked out on stage, a pleasant smile on her face as she walked up to the microphone stand where the host was previously standing before he walked back behind the curtain… not that he was any safer there. Wow, there were so many people, hundreds of them scattered all across the open air deck of the Starlight, and all of them there to hear her sing… it was almost a shame what had to be done… but family had to come first.

"Thank you, everyone, and welcome aboard the Starlight." She began, smiling even bigger when she saw her husband arrive over toward the back of the crowd. "Ever since I can remember, I've had two goals: Marrying the man of my dreams, and performing onstage… and now that I've accomplished my dreams, I hope that your time onboard the Starlight will help you achieve yours as well. So put your arms around your lucky husband or wife, tell them you love them more than anything, and hold each other tightly as if this were your last night on Earth."

Another round of applause echoed across the deck once her words were finished, and it was nice to see that so many of the ship's passengers were taking her advice as the band started to play her favorite song. It wasn't an old classic or anything, in fact it had only come out the year before, but it was such a romantic tune, and the passengers seemed to be reacting positively, especially when the brunette began to sing.

 _The daylight's fading slowly, but time with you is standing still._

 _I'm waiting for you only, the slightest touch and I feel weak._

 _I cannot lie, from you I cannot hide. I'm losing will to try._

 _Can't hide it, can't fight it._

Gillette's voice was so beautiful and melodious that everyone's attention was now focused completely on her, while even the people sitting at the tables nearest to the stage were leaning forward so they could hear it better. Back at the lab the guards and scientists would stop near the containment cell to hear her sing, but it felt so much different to be there onstage in front of an audience who actually wanted to be there.

 _So go on, go on, come on, leave me breathless._

 _Tempt me, tease me, until I can't deny this._

 _Loving feeling, make me long for your kiss._

 _Go on, go on, yeah, come on._

Unfortunately now the reactions to her had begun to change, not because of her singing, which was perfect, but because of the sudden release of her spores into the crowd. Coming out of every part of her body like dozens of black tendrils made of smoke, Gillette gestured forward with her arms, sending them out in all directions like spears in a phalanx, making some of the passengers immediately pass out, while others drooled incoherently, and a few even vomited up blood all over themselves.

 _And if there's no tomorrow, and all we have is here and now._

 _I'm happy just to have you, you're all the love I need somehow._

 _It's like a dream, although I'm not asleep. I never want to wake up._

 _Don't lose it, don't leave it._

Frightened screams were coming from the immediate area as the other passengers saw what was happening to the ones touched by the spores, and tried to escape, resulting in a kind of awkward stampede that actually prevented anyone from getting away while the spores claimed more and more victims. A young man was trying to help his wife get over a railing to climb down the side of a staircase, only to be hit by the spores, causing her to scream as they both tumbled over the edge when he started drooling. Another woman was trying to join a group of others who were taking shelter inside of a sauna, only to vomit up a large spray of blood after being hit, thereby infecting the others inside.

 _So go on, go on, come on leave me breathless._

 _Tempt me, tease me, until I can't deny this._

 _Loving feeling, make me long for your kiss._

 _Go on, go on, yeah, come on._

Taking a microsecond away from the song to tell the infected to _keep them there_ , the drooling enthralled people started grabbing onto their fleeing companions who had not been infected yet, some of them dragging their own screaming and crying spouses back toward the stage to make them easier to infect while Gillette moved into the final parts of the song… and with each passing second the screams of the kicking and fighting passengers were becoming fewer and farther in between until silence had once again fallen across the deck of the Starlight.

 _Go on, go on._

With the song finished, the band immediately stopped, but now out of the hundreds of registered crew and passengers of the cruise ship, there was only Tobias who was coherent to be able to applaud and whistle for her. This was enough, though, and she did a polite courtesy before moving down the stairs, running past all of the drooling, incoherent passengers, and leaping into her husband's arms for a kiss that truly left her breathless.


	17. Chapter 17 Distress Call

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Seventeen: Distress Call**

By the time that Lucia returned, and Leon was able to use the handcuff keys that the little girl dropped down from the vent… after a few minutes of awkwardly trying to scoot the fallen chair over, the whole ship was in complete chaos. Gillette had started infecting everyone during a surprisingly well-performed musical number, and now he could see everyone running around on the deck outside the bridge's viewing window, after finally getting out of that storage closet.

Lucia had vanished back into the air duct as quickly as she appeared, not that the Agent blamed her for being scared and wanting to remain hidden, as outside more and more people were being dragged back toward the stage by the infected, only to join their ranks only a minute or so later. Rather than face what the brunette was doing to the passengers, most people ran for their lives; a lot of them trying to take shelter inside their cabins, only to be pursued inside, while other people actually dove overboard to escape.

The Starlight was a very tall ship, and even if those people survived hitting the water at that speed from that height, they were quickly pulled underneath the waves by the gigantic spinning rotors of the ship, doomed to either drown or be ground up… but at least they weren't infected. One of the officers on the bridge tried to use the radio to call for help, since they were still relatively close to the mainland, but then he received what was probably the shock of his life when he was stabbed through the neck from behind with a letter opener… by the Captain.

Next clubbing the wounded and choking officer over the head with what looked like a small red valve handle, the Captain was bleeding from the eyes and drooling all over himself as he pushed the officer onto the floor, before sparks flew as he started to smash the radio equipment. Without his transceivers or Cora's equipment, the ship's radio was the only way left to call for help, so Leon rushed forward, grabbing the Captain from behind in an attempt to restrain him.

"No, let me go!" The older man slurred while they struggled. "I have to… have to destroy the radio! Gillette wants me to destroy the radio!"

Pinning the Captain's arms down by locking his own arms completely around the older man, Leon pulled him backwards away from the bridge's radio equipment, fighting to keep balance while his captive kicked and squirmed in an attempt to free himself so that he could complete Gillette's commands. In fact, the older man struggled so violently that the Agent lost his grip, allowing the Captain to spin around and swing the valve handle before he could react.

 _Whack!_ It wasn't a direct hit to the side of the head, but there was enough force behind the grazing blow to make Leon stumble backwards, tumbling to the floor after his leg hit one of the other consoles. He was a little dizzy when he tried to get up, with his vision slightly tilted to the side… or maybe it was just his head… but he _had_ to stop the radio equipment from being destroyed. Unarmed while the Captain was back to smashing that same console, the Agent searched around for a weapon… and then he saw the letter opening sticking out of the other officer's neck.

 _Beep-beep-beep!_ Another console suddenly lit up with a red glow, displaying that someone had pulled an emergency alarm in the Second Class cabins; probably some frightened passengers trying to call for help. Honestly, there was most likely no one left who could help them, but the alarm _did_ succeed in distracting the Captain from what was left of the radio equipment, since he had to walk over to the other side of the bridge to shut it down.

"Ms. Gillette, this is the… I'm… Captain." He slurred, drooling all over the console after picking up the phone on the nearby wall. "Alarm, there was… there was an alarm… an alarm in Second Class… people there, maybe… calling for help… not part… oh…

While the older man's voice was being broadcasted across the whole ship through the PA system and spelling certain doom for the uninfected people in Second Class, Leon had yanked the letter opener out of the dead officer's neck. Now he was sneaking up on the Captain in order to kill him before he could resume his attack on the radio… when suddenly the older man stopped talking as the phone receiver fell from his hand.

He must have been infected before all the others, probably when Gillette had been in the store room with all of them, since his skin was becoming discolored, and Leon saw him spit out a tooth while leaning on the alarm console. Just like what had happened to Amanda, the Captain had degraded into a mindless zombie, but thankfully the Agent was there to stab him in the back of the head before he could attack.

 _Thud!_ Now it was the dead Captain's turn to hit the floor after bouncing off the console, leaving Leon alone on the ship's bridge so that he could call HQ for help, but the older man had done a pretty good job of smashing things. Most of the equipment was beyond repair, but he still tried all of it just in case, since there might not be another opportunity of having all the infected people distracted with the location of survivors, being that the one reporting them was dead and all.

"Headquarters, this is Agent Kennedy, come in." He said into the partially broken microphone after tuning into the secure frequency. "Starlight has been compromised, I repeat, Starlight has been compromised, requesting…

Like any good Agent reporting an extreme situation, Leon's first instinct was to call for extraction and reinforcements, but was that a good idea? Between Gillette and Tobias, five out of the six total agents onboard the Starlight had been taken out in less than twelve hours, so even if another team that was heavily armed got called in, would the same thing happen to _them_? Would they be killed or infected just as easily as all the others?

"Requesting quarantine of the ocean liner Starlight." The Agent continued after letting out a long sigh. "I repeat, this is Agent Kennedy requesting quarantine of the ocean liner Starlight; passengers and crew are infected by an unknown version of the T-Virus, and there are multiple high-level BOW's confirmed loose onboard. Do not attempt to board the Starlight under any circumstances, I will… I will attempt to disable the vessel from here."

Leon got a little choked up as he finished the transmission, not even knowing if it was being received, but suddenly feeling really nervous now that he couldn't hear any more screams or running around outside of the bridge. Was it over? Had Gillette's spores overwhelmed the hundreds of passengers onboard _that quickly_? The Agent's hands were shaking a little as he set down the microphone, but then a new rush of adrenaline surged through him when he heard the fast _creak_ of the bridge's door being opened… turning and throwing the letter opener like any other knife at the figure rushing inside.

With perfect aim, the slightly dull blade went right into the left eye of its target… causing the seemingly _uninfected_ officer to gasp before falling back against the window, shattering it completely as he collapsed onto the deck outside. _Oh fuck_ , Leon thought as he rushed out the door, hoping that the survivor was still alive, but knowing the truth even before kneeling down next to him and seeing that he was no longer breathing.

"Oh, shit." He whispered, realizing that he had killed an innocent human. "Oh, shit, shit…

More footsteps approaching on the deck, making a knot form in the Agent's stomach when he saw that they belonged to the drooling and bleeding passengers who had been pursuing the fleeing officer. They hesitated for a moment, nearly stopping in their tracks when they saw that their target was dead, and then they just… they just seemed to lose interest. Not wasting this opportunity, Leon turned to run the other way… only to be almost lifted off his feet when the person he ran into slugged him in the stomach.

The pain progressed through the Agent's body slowly, causing him to shake a little, grabbing onto his attacker's shirt and falling to his knees when his legs gave out. He didn't have to stay down for long, though, since his attacker now grabbed him by the hair and effortlessly pulled him back to his feet. Leon grabbed the hand that was holding him and tried to break the grip, but couldn't before being dragged over to the railing and made to bend over it backwards so that he was on the edge of falling overboard.

"Yeah, I figured you'd get out of that room." Tobias Liquid said, making him lean farther over the edge. "Fortunately for _you_ , that means I can't kill you yet, but I'm gonna make you _wish_ I had, unless you tell me what you did with that Umbrella computer. Don't bother playing dumb, we both know every USS team gets one, which is why you killed them, right? So where is it?"

Wait a second, the Agent thought while holding onto the railing to keep himself from falling. He already knew that the yellow eyed creature had killed Cora's team and taken the laptop, so why was he accusing Leon of doing it? Tobias didn't seem like the type to play games, so the accusations were probably serious, but if he hadn't killed them… then who did? Had there still been undetected agents onboard the Starlight?

"Last chance, kid." The yellow eyed creature threatened. "I need you alive and uninfected, but I swear to Christ that I will make you…

Leon did not have the strength to beat him in a fight, nor was there any means of escape… except maybe one… one that turned Tobias's words into a startled outcry as it was put into motion. Letting go of the railing, and grabbing him by the arms, the Agent pushed backwards off the railing as hard as he could, and since the yellow eyed creature had been leaning with him, it was enough to put him off balance… so that they both fell over the edge.

Feeling a rush of air as he went into freefall, Leon expected for the next thing he felt to be that of hard, stinging water, but instead he only plummeted for a second or two before hitting the deck below… while Tobias missed, continuing downward and vanishing out of sight. The Agent had escaped, but he had also hit his head, leaving him feeling really dizzy and disoriented while trying to get up a few times unsuccessfully.

"You're gonna pay for that, kid!" Tobias's voice yelled from somewhere far below, jarring him into awareness. "You're gonna pay!"

Scrambling to his feet, and struggling to see through blurred vision while pushing past more infected passengers who seemed to be… looking for something… Leon ran aimlessly across the wooden surface of the deck, with his only goal being that of escape from the BOW who was most likely on his way back up. Quickly losing his way, and having no time to get his bearings, the Agent rounded corners and passed through interior sections in a sort of blind run… until the deck vanished from beneath his feet.

What was it, a hole? An open hatch? Whatever it was, Leon fell right through it, painfully bouncing his ribs off a large pipe part of the way down, and then smacking his head on a much smaller and harder pipe that may or may not have broken as a result. Splash! Hitting water and fearing that he had somehow fallen overboard, the Agent realized that he had landed in total darkness where about two inches of water covered the floor. He managed to roll onto his back, spitting out the water while planning to climb his way back out of there… only to have his eyes roll up into the back of his head as he passed out.


	18. Chapter 18 Director Burton

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Eighteen: Director Burton**

 _Twenty-four hours later…_

Although not nearly as grandiose or well-maintained as a government agency, the _Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance_ was still able to afford a headquarters, albeit one that sat in a secret location since they did not have the security capabilities of an official agency, either. Within this forgotten, mostly unassuming building that had at once been an observatory… back during the _Cold War_ , by the look of things, there was a surprising amount of activity going on, most of it dedicated to the fight against what was left of Umbrella.

This fledgling organization suffered from a critical lack of funding, which was the primary reason why most of the lights were off, as well as why the few machines and computers that _were_ working were manned by a skeleton crew that was made up mostly of volunteers. There was enough money for them to perform _maybe_ one or two missions per month, which was why getting assistance from established agencies was such a high priority, and this was also the reason why Barry Burton, the man who had been chosen to lead the BSAA, was sitting in his office at eleven o'clock at night.

A heavy toll was taken on the relationship he had with his wife and two daughters, all of whom had been placed heavily at risk during the outbreaks of 1998, but the long hours and missed birthdays were worth it in order to make sure that what happened to Raccoon City never happened anywhere else. On this particular night, Director Burton was partaking in a video-call with the lady Director of the agency that he had reached out to for some additional manpower, but the results of this conversation was not the report of good news that he had been waiting for.

Instead, what the bearded man was greeted with was the details of Leon Kennedy's investigation into the Starlight, or at least up to the point that he and his partner boarded the cruise liner, only to miss several radio check-in times. Then at around midnight the day before, the agency had received a single radio transmission from their man in the field, but the broadcast strength was poor and most of what the Agent said was inaudible.

The parts that he _could_ understand of it made references to there being some kind of Umbrella BOW onboard the ship, but that was really all that could be restored from the static-laced transmission. Barry had been there when the RPD STARS team investigated the Spencer Estate up in the Arklay Mountains, so the presence of Umbrella's monsters was nothing new, it was just… it was just that there always seemed to be such a high civilian casualty rate whenever the company decided to do something ignorant.

Sipping his black, watered-down coffee while listening to Leon's transmission, he was listening closely, trying to discern any more words through the crackling interference… while also trying not to be distracted when one of the lights in his office started to flicker yet again. This place needed a full electrical wiring check… as well as a new paint job, some pest control in the lower levels… hell, might as well ask for a _Unicorn_ for his daughters while he was dreaming.

"All right, so here's what I understand from all this." Barry said after the transmission stopped. "We were right about Umbrella using the Starlight to transport illegal materials, and according to Leon there is a fully developed BOW onboard… Jesus, transporting killer monsters on a honeymoon cruise… how to these Umbrella bastards sleep at night?"

" _I wish I could give you more than that, Director Burton_." The woman from the agency replied in the flickering light of his computer screen. " _But we have already extended ourselves beyond which has been authorized for assistance to your organization, and as much as I want to send in a team to determine Agent Kennedy's status, my superiors in Washington have tied my hands._ "

Oh, _wonderful_ , the bearded man thought, more _bureaucratic bullshit_ getting in the way of what needed to be done, just like Chief Irons and Mayor Warren back in Raccoon City. No one wanted to get their hands dirty, and no one wanted to listen… they didn't listen to the survivors of STARS after the incident at the Spencer Estate, and they sure as hell didn't listen to the survivors of Task Force Arklay after what happened up in the mountains the previous spring… it was too bad that Tobias Liquid had still been in a coma when the hospital was overrun during the outbreak… maybe shit would actually get done if he were still alive.

Okay, okay, he thought, focus on the _good_ news… the good news was that the Starlight had only been out for a day before Leon's last transmission, and according to the map that had been show to him, the cruise liner had been heading up the coast from South Carolina before turning east and heading out to sea… meaning that it was still in range for a helicopter insertion at the moment of they moved quickly… and if the BSAA's only helicopter wasn't down for mechanical problems… and if all available agents weren't already in the field investigating the other ships.

"Look, this problem needs to be solved, right?" Barry said, trying his best not to get angry. "If you people can't get involved any further, then I'll put one of my own people on the Starlight to find your missing agents, but I'm going to need radio support _and_ a helicopter… can you at least provide that?"

" _That… yes, I believe we can help you there_." She replied, a slight tone of excitement being heard in her voice. " _But we're going to have to hurry, since the ship will only be in helicopter range for a few more hours, so make sure your man is ready when our helicopter arrives at your headquarters_."

And just who was this man, the bearded man thought as the video call ended? Why, it was _himself_ , of course, since the BSAA's biggest shortage of all came from manpower, but it was going to be good to get out into the field again. Satellite images of the Starlight had shown barely any activity at all on the open air decks, so there was no need to dress like a tourist… although the current status of the passengers and crew was worrying him, as was the fate of Leon Kennedy. Claire Redfield had talked a lot about him after Raccoon City… seemed like a good guy.

Well, the first thing Barry needed to do was get into his field uniform, which was kept in a locker against the back wall of his office, and man did it feel good to get out of that damn suit and tie he was supposed to wear… _had to look professional for the big wigs_ , Chris Redfield had said to him… before laughing at how uncomfortable the tie had made him. Out of his suit in record time, and into the far more durable outfit with the dark red vest that he had worn as a member of STARS… with the old patches having been carefully removed… there was some nostalgia involved in seeing himself in the mirror, but there was no time for that now.

The final touch for his uniform was to open a metal lockbox on the shelf, and take out his _.357 Magnum Revolver_ , adding even more nostalgia when he checked the chamber and put the weapon into its holster. He hoped that nothing was wrong with the Starlight, and that Leon had been simply reporting that he had found the materials that they were looking for, but his gut told him otherwise. There was a feeling, a kind of nameless fear traveling down the back of his spine, which meant something really bad was about to happen, since it was the same feeling he had gotten back in '98 after entering that mansion.

Going over the mission in his mind, while putting a large knife into his boot sheath, the bearded man had three objectives: First, he was to locate the missing agents, Leon Kennedy and Amanda Pricely. Second, he was to determine the status of the passengers and crew of the Starlight, since they had missed several check-in times with the port authority as well. Third, verify that the Umbrella Corporation was using the ship to transport the BOW's that Leon had been talking about in his final transmission.

Although his magnum revolver and knife were a good combination, Barry felt that he still needed a little bit more, just to be on the safe side. Now, he wasn't about to go in like _Rambo_ , carrying something crazy like an _M-60 Machinegun_ … not that the BSAA _had_ one at the moment… nor did they really have much of _anything_ for him to use, except for the standard issue 9mm pistols. Fuck it, a pistol was better than nothing, and besides it would allow him to save the ammo for his magnum for dire situations.

Leon's government agency was providing radio support, so he would be given a small radio transceiver once the helicopter arrived, and… and, well that was pretty much it. He was fully loaded, and ready to go, well before the rotors of an approaching helicopter began to be heard. The observatory that the BSAA used as its current headquarters was a dome-shaped building that was surrounded by trees, but the clearing out front was easily large enough for an improvised landing zone.

Time was of the essence, since the Starlight got farther out to sea with each passing moment, so as soon as the vehicle touched down in the grass outside, the bearded man climbed inside, with them taking off again before he had even managed to close the side door. As expected, he was given a radio transceiver to place in his ear, allowing him to do a few radio checks with both the pilot as well as the agency, henceforth to be known by the codename of _HQ_ , so that their support would remain unofficial… _bureaucratic bullshit_ to the last.

A full moon could be seen out the small window as they flew over the trees, again reminding Barry once again of the fateful night in 1998, as well as the dark clouds that were slowly moving in. The presence of the ocean, which could be seen in the distance as the helicopter gained altitude, ended these memories, since right now he needed to keep his mind in the present… although it was no secret that he wished he could have had Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine with him again for this one… since that feeling going down his spine was getting worse the closer they got to the ocean.


	19. Chapter 19 Ghost Ship

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Nineteen: Ghost Ship**

A crack of distant lightning broke through the darkness as a light, drizzling rain began to fall against the windows of the helicopter. This rain slowly increased into a mild storm by the time that the ocean liner Starlight was within visual range, making Barry a little nervous as he opened the side door for insertion. Putting up his hand to keep the sweeping rain from getting in his eyes, the bearded man dropped a rope down once they were above the deck a few minutes later. The ship was still moving, so he had to wait until the pilot had matched its speed, and then after receiving a thumbs up from him, Barry started down.

 _Thud!_ After a quick slid down the rope, his heavy boots connected with the wooden surface of the deck, and then the helicopter pulled away, the sounds of its rotors getting fainter until he couldn't hear anything but the falling rain… no other sounds at all. Even with how finicky the kind of rich people who could afford a cruise like this were of getting rained on, there should still have been _some_ kind of surface activity, even if it was only that of people quickly running from one interior section to the next… but there was _nothing_.

"HQ, this is Barry." He said, moving out of sight and ducking down behind what looked like a large electrical box. "I've boarded the Starlight, and everything seems to be working at first glance, but there's no one in sight, over."

" _Roger, Barry, our satellite images showed the same lack of activity_." The Director's voice replied. " _Proceed with your investigation, but remain on your guard… remember, we don't know the whole story that Leon was trying to tell us, over and out_."

Getting up, and moving close to the safety railing so that he could look up and down the length of the entire ship, quickly realizing just how _gigantic_ the Starlight really was. With as many decks, both inside and exterior, that he could see, this place was going to take _days_ to search completely… there had to be a faster way. Well, this _was_ a modern cruise liner, so there was probably a computer system somewhere around… not that the bearded man was very good with computers, now… but then he saw it.

Up above him, mounted underneath the awning of the interior section that he was closest to, was a security camera. _Of course_ , Barry thought when he saw the blinking light, meaning that there was still power going to it, the Starlight must've had a _security room_ where all the cameras around the ship could be monitored at once. Finding it would greatly decrease the time it would take to search the whole ship, but again… this place was so God damn big that even just finding _that_ was going to take a while.

What he really needed was a _map_. Yeah, all these places had to have directory maps or something to keep the passengers from getting lost, so… so why didn't he see any of them around? Maybe the rain, which was falling harder now, was limiting the range of his vision, or maybe the maps were all inside of the interior sections. He was pretty close to the entrance to one of them, a set of heavily tinted glass double-doors, and since every part of this ship needed to be searched, he thought that this was as good a place to start as any.

The outside of the ship was illuminated with pretty powerful lights that were mounted to the walls of each interior section, as well as far dimmer safety lights along the railing, so there was no reason to expect that the lights would be off on the inside, and thankfully they weren't. Pulling open the door by its metal handle, and stepping inside, the bearded man found himself in what looked like a kind of lobby; thick carpet on the floor, chairs and tables set up as if this area was for playing cards or something, as well as a staircase toward the back that went upward.

Decorative chandeliers provided the light, as well as smaller fixtures on the walls that gave off a softened, diffused light from behind their reflective shields, but once again there were no people. Wait a second, there was a soft dragging sound like someone walking heavily, but where was it coming… yes, over there just around the side of the staircase… someone was definitely over there.

Trying not to make too much noise as he walked, Barry moved around the empty room so that he could see around the staircase, and not only did he see what looked like a directory map on the wall, but also a woman standing there with her back to him. She had long dark hair, wearing high-heels and a cute evening dress that came down to her knees and showed a large portion of her back, and she was just kind of standing there, leaning on the wall.

"Uh… miss?" He called, remembering that the passengers could be in danger, too. "Excuse me, miss? Are you all right?"

She didn't move, nor did she respond to his calls, forcing the bearded man to approach, not only to check on her, but also because he needed to see the map that she was standing in front of. It was a little bit harder to see once he got behind the stairs, since a lot of the light was blocked, but as he got closer, he could see that something was definitely wrong with this woman. All of the skin he could see across her body was discolored, with darkened blotches like something out of an old-world plague, and her breath was raspy like her lungs weren't working properly.

Then she slowly turned, probably upon hearing his footsteps, and Barry could only gasp at what he saw. Her eyes were clouded with a heavy white glaze, a couple of her teeth had fallen out, and now the woman let out a sharp groan as she rushed toward him, stretching out her long painted fingernails like claws. _Oh God_ , the bearded man thought as he quickly backed away, she looked just like the zombies that he had seen at the Spencer Estate, and he was reaching for his pistol, when his foot got caught on the end of the stairs.

Next thing he knew, the bearded man had fallen onto his back, letting out a groan himself as the freshly drawn pistol fell from his grip. It wasn't too far away, but neither was the female zombie, and she dove onto him, snarling and biting at his face, before he could manage to grab it. The monster tried to restrain his arms, but this woman was only about half his size, so it wasn't that hard to keep her drooling jaw away from him by pulling on her long hair to keep her head tilted back.

Still, she was relentless, grabbing at him with her fake nails and trying to use her legs to keep him pinned down, but Barry managed to get her off balance enough to pull her over sideways so that she fell off of him. She still kept trying to grab him, so the bearded man repeatedly kicked her in the arms and face while scooting away, at least until he was able to get a hold of the fallen pistol.

 _Bang_! There was a flash of light and noise, and a small hole appeared in the side of the female zombie's head right before she collapsed; her foul-smelling, discolored blood starting to pool up around the wound while a light trail of smoke came from the pistol's barrel. Now everything was quiet again, aside from the bearded man's own heavy breathing, and… oh, hell, what was _that_?

More footsteps could be heard, this time slowly coming down the stairs, and if what had happened onboard this ship was anything like what had happened in Raccoon City, Barry knew that there were _a lot_ more zombies where that one came from. So was that what Leon had been trying to warn them about in his radio transmission? That a BOW had escaped and caused an outbreak? Either way, he needed to find the security station on that map and get moving before he found himself surrounded.

 _Thump-thump, thump-thump!_ Barry's heart was pounding in his chest as he scrambled to his feet, rushing over to the directory map on the back wall as the steps coming down the stairs got closer… and closer. Now at the map, it was easy enough to find where he was, and everything was color coded, which was nice, but there were images of every single deck of the ship, along with one of those keys at the bottom that listed every single place with a number code… then why in the hell did they color code the thing in the first place?

Finally spotting the words _Security Office_ toward the bottom, the bearded man noted the number and the deck, moving his finger over to the location… hey, it was in the upper levels of this very structure... odd place for a security station. Okay, so he had to go up three levels, and then down a long corridor… but now the footsteps had reached the bottom of the stairs, and were now moving across carpet, toward him… so after a deep breath, he spun around, only to have to forcibly stop himself from pulling the trigger at what he saw.

"Hello." A surprisingly normal woman said calmly. "I do not recognize you… were you here before?"

She was definitely not a zombie; dressed formally like the other woman, but with a clear skin complexion, and no glaze over her blue eyes. However, this red haired woman was calm… like, far too calm to have just gotten a pistol pointed at her face by a complete stranger. Of course, how in the hell would she have known whether or not he had been onboard the whole time? Ships like the Starlight were built to house literally hundreds of passengers, as well as the crew, and there was no way for anyone to know all of them… of course, a couple years ago he would have thought that there was no such thing as zombies, either.

"No, I uh… I just got here." Barry answered, slowly lowering his pistol. "I'm Barry, what's your name? Do you know what happened to the people on this ship?"

"My name is Cora." The red haired woman replied, staying just as calm and not even blinking. "I was locked in a storage room, and when I got out everyone was like this woman on the floor. Do you know a way to get off this ship? It is not safe here."

The way this woman acted and spoke was really weirding him out, but after remembering how horrible it was during his first encounter with such an outbreak, the bearded man wondered if maybe she had been left in some kind of emotional shock? That was what the shrink at the RPD had suggested about the surviving STARS members after the Spencer Estate, so maybe that was this woman hadn't blinked in more than two minutes.

"Yes, there's a way to get to safety." He answered, not willing to leave an innocent civilian to their fate. "But first I have to get to the security room to find my friends… come on, it's safer if we stay together."

Cora nodded, before walking over to him, and standing so close that it was a little uncomfortable as they started back toward the stairs that she had come down. It wasn't that the red haired woman was repulsive or anything, in fact she was quite beautiful, but Barry was a married man, and her behavior was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Yeah, shock… it had to be some kind of shock that was making her act like this, he thought as they moved toward the second level of the interior section.


	20. Chapter 20 Familiar Faces

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Twenty: Familiar Faces**

As Barry and Cora made their way up the carpeted stairs to the second level, the bearded man sighed with frustration as he saw more and more infected passengers standing around the area, but there was something really strange about them. Each one looked just like the zombies that he had seen at the Spencer Estate, but where those creatures had been wandering around aimlessly in the search for vectors to spread the T-Virus, these ones looked more like they had been _positioned_ somehow.

The drooling, groaning infected passengers were spaced around the room, almost evenly, and while some of them were simply staring at walls, there were a lot of them that seemed to be stuck in a loop, kind of like in those movies where a couple seconds of video footage was used to fool the bad guys. There was a zombie standing next to a plastic trash bin, constantly lifting the lid and setting it back down with a soft _thud-thud_ , while another one was standing in the doorway of a janitor's closet, turning the light switch on and off every couple seconds as if about to search the place.

"What the hell is going on here?" Barry asked, looking around at them. "It looks like… it looks like they're _searching_ for something."

"They have been like this since I got out of the store room." Cora replied, almost as if bored with the whole situation. "They are not a threat at distance, we should continue on to the security room so that we may leave the ship."

Regardless of the fact that they were more than likely _alone_ on a ship full of zombies and who knows what else, everything the red haired woman said was done so _matter of factly_ , that the bearded man wasn't sure if she were simply traumatized, or if she was the coldest person alive. Anyone else, trained members of STARS included, would have been frightened and put on edge during their first encounter with Umbrella's monsters, but this woman just didn't seem to give a damn about _anything_ , besides getting off the Starlight. Not that this was a _bad_ goal, or anything, but there was just something… _wrong_ about her.

She was right, though, at least as far as them needing to get to the security room, and the zombies were ignoring them for now, so they continued onward. Unfortunately, the way the stairs were set up, they had to go down a different corridor to reach each section, instead of one continuous stairwell, but apparently that made too much sense for the rich people who built the place. Thankfully the corridor wasn't very long, and mostly free of the oddly positioned zombies… hold on, there were a couple shadows visible coming down the next stairwell around the corner.

Barry had been trying to see around the corner, since the approaching shadows weren't moving like the other zombies, but suddenly Cora grabbed him, clamping her hand over his mouth while dragging him off to the side with a surprising amount of strength. The bearded man had been caught so off guard by this, that he was unable to stop her from dragging him through the nearest door, which turned out to be a public restroom. If he hadn't been being dragged against his will, he might have been impressed by how elaborate and fancily decorated it was for a bathroom, but he was a little busy being pulled into the very last stall, and held there while she locked the door.

"Remain very still and silent." The red haired woman ordered, her voice calm, but her body language reflecting anxiety. "We are in danger."

He nodded, suddenly feeling that same anxiety as he heard the restroom door open again, and two sets of footsteps could be heard moving across the tile floor; one heaver like a man's shoes, and the other kind of clicking like high heels. Not making a sound, Barry moved so that he could see through the crack in the stall's door, allowing him to see a woman with long black hair, wearing a formal dress sort of like that all the other women were wearing… and there was a man, too, but… but he was standing with his back against the room's support pillar, and couldn't be seen from where he was.

"Gillette, we've already searched through here." The man said in a surprisingly familiar voice. "It's just a _bathroom_ , there's no place in here to hide something that big."

"Well, these useless things _degraded_ before they found it anywhere else." The brunette replied, almost snapping as she folded her arms. "I just don't understand it, there's _hundreds_ of them, how did they not manage to search the entire ship?"

 _BAM!_ Suddenly balling up her fist, and punching the wall, the whole room seemed to shake for a second as all of the decorative tile on the wall exploded into a million pieces. In the dust that was kicked up from the blow, Barry could see that there were now cracks spread out across all of the concrete and metal underneath, but Gillette herself no longer seemed angry… in fact now just the opposite as a polite smile returned to her face.

"There still has to be more places to search." She continued, walking over to the man and kissing him. "We still haven't found where your _friend_ , Leon vanished to, either, so Reynaldo could still be here somewhere… he's trapped and alone, he _needs_ us to find him, Tobias."

Now a knot was forming in the bearded man's stomach when he heard that name, along with the familiar voice that he couldn't place… but that was impossible. Tobias Liquid was in a coma when the hospital in Raccoon City was overrun, he couldn't have survived… and even if he had… then what in the hell would he be doing onboard this ship in the middle of an outbreak… with a woman who could apparently punch through concrete?

Hold on, they were moving, and… damn it, he still couldn't see the man's face before the two of them left the room. After the two of them were gone, however, Cora seemed to relax, even though judging solely by the blank expression on her face, the red haired woman had never been anxious in the first place. The two of them waited until the footsteps in the corridor got further away, and the smoke from when Gillette had broken the tile wall was clearing, but not enough for Barry to have to cover his mouth to muffle the sound of his coughing.

Both of them froze when he coughed, worried that the two outside would hear it and come back to investigate, but as the seconds ticked by and the bathroom door didn't open, the bearded man relaxed a little. The sounds of their footsteps had been going away from the staircase, so he figured as long as they could get around that corner without being spotted, then there was nothing to worry about… at least from the ones that Cora was worried about. So quietly opening the door and peering outside, Barry was relieved to see that they were gone, and then motioned for the red haired woman to follow him out.

Constantly looking back now to make sure that they weren't being followed, the bearded man reached the stairs and started upward… only to run right into one of the infected passengers while taking another look back. Reacting to his proximity with a pained groan at the same time that he cried out in surprise, the zombie lunged toward him in an attempt to grab him by the shirt… only to groan again when Cora casually pushed it off balance.

The two of them had been standing right at the top of the stairs, and the zombie had been stepping forward to grab Barry, so the monster was unable to stop itself from tumbling head first down the stairs. It made plenty of noise during the fall, going _thud-thud-thud_ all the way to the bottom. Well, if the cough didn't attract any attention, that incredibly loud fall was bound to, so they needed to keep moving. According to the directory map, the security room was on the fourth level, and they had just reached the third, so there was only one more staircase to climb… shit, where was it?

Looking down this next corridor, both left and right, the stairwell was not as easy to spot as the last one had been… in fact, it was nowhere to be seen. This level of the interior section was decorated more darkly, green colored walls with a series of contrasting white doors, each made up of several small sectioned windows. A lot of the doors were locked, a sign with the word _Reserved_ written in cursive hanging from some of the doorknobs, meaning that these had all been private rooms for special gatherings.

"I don't see any other doors through them." Barry said, peering through the small windows. "Just a table and some chairs… no people, though."

"I do not believe that there is anyone left." Cora said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We are wasting time. We need to get off this ship."

He understood her urgency, but the search for survivors was _never_ a waste of time, and like that girl, Gillette had said, she and her partner had still been unable to locate Leon. Sure, that kid didn't have many years of experience, but having made it through Raccoon City at its worst, the bearded man was unwilling to believe that the Starlight could have killed him, when the zombies weren't even _chasing_ people, for God's sake.

There were zombies on this level, just like all the others, and they were behaving just as oddly; one of them turning the bulb in a light fixture very slowly until it went out, only to turn it back on a couple seconds later, while another one held tightly into the knob of one of the locked doors while repeatedly walking right into it, over and over again with a _wham… wham… wham_. The saddest one of all so far was a zombie that might have once been a beautiful blonde woman, with the heel of one of her shoes stuck in the track of the elevator, so that the door smacked her in the face each time it closed, and… hey, the _elevator_!

After the first corner they rounded, it didn't even register in Barry's mind that there was a soft _ding_ in the background every few seconds, at least not until he actually saw what was happening to the zombie that had become trapped there. It was facing into the elevator car, groaning each time the door gave it a good _smack_ each time it tried to close, and making it real easy for the bearded man to sneak up on it while taking out his knife.

He didn't want to make the noise of a gunshot, so Barry snuck up behind the monster, and it groaned again when he plunged the blade into the side of its head near the temple. Now pulling the dead zombie out of the doorway, and kicking the stuck high heel shoe out of the track, Cora joined him inside just before the door closed. Forget the stairwell, he thought while pushing the button for the fourth level… why were these elevators hidden from plain view like that?


	21. Chapter 21 Deductive Reasoning

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Twenty One: Deductive Reasoning**

Gillette was starting to get frustrated, her and her husband having gone over the entire ship three times since the massive infection during her concert, with absolutely no luck. Container R-002 was nowhere to be found, nor was that small computer thing that the Umbrella people were carrying, and now even Leon Kennedy had vanished without a trace. She had ordered the passengers and crew, one by one, to come to her and tell who they were and what they were doing there, but it seemed that all of the hidden agents, save for Leon, had been killed, which was why he was needed.

Now that all of the passengers had degraded into mindless zombies, it was up to her and Tobias to do the searching, which was a lot less fun than just staying in their cabin and having sex while the enthralled people did all the actual work. Her husband did his best to keep her spirits up, but the brunette knew that they weren't going to find anything different this time than they had the last… that, and walking around for several hours in high heels wasn't exactly pleasant as far as her feet were concerned.

Her frustration had come to its peak while going inside of a women's restroom to check around for hidden compartments, even though nothing had been found the last time, or the time before, resulting in her getting so angry that she shattered all of the tiles covering a wall with one punch. Gillette didn't like the rare moments when she got angry, since things usually got destroyed, or in one instance in Canada after getting of Sheena Island, about twenty five people got ripped apart with her bare hands. She especially had to be careful around Tobias when that happened, because although he was far stronger than any other human, she could easily overpower him if necessary, and she didn't want to hurt him.

Instead, the brunette actually preferred to be submissive with him, probably due to how the Umbrella scientists had programmed her generation with the desire to be taken care of by a man. This programmed instinct was a trap for them, of course, meant for nothing more than getting close to targets for infection, but Tobias was immune, and didn't degrade like the others. Honestly, she had fallen for him almost instantly, and when the scientists put them in containment together in the hopes that they would fight to gain more of their precious _combat data_ , Gillette had allowed him to pin her against the wall… and then the two of them had to be gassed in order to pry them apart.

"Something's wrong here." Her husband said, interrupting her thoughts as he stopped walking. "Something's… _different_."

Suddenly excited by what he was saying, the brunette started looking around, but then became disappointed again when she didn't see anything different about this part of the ship at all. It was just the same corridors and stairs, with zombies standing around the empty reserved game rooms as they tried to complete the last thing they were doing before they degraded. Tobias, however, was convinced that something had changed, and the next thing Gillette knew, she was running up and down sets of stairs trying to keep up with him as he went all over to examine… what looked like _nothing_ to her.

He would check all around some collapsed zombies, pick up random things from the floor as if he had found a lost treasure, and then where was a couple times when she didn't even know _what_ he was focusing on. However, after going all the way to the first level of this interior section, as far as going outside in the rain for a moment, and then all the way to the top near the elevator, before back down to that same bathroom again, the brunette had finally had enough… as had her feet.

"Tobias, wait." She said, leaning on the sink counter to adjust her heels, while he checked around in the stalls. "Could you at least tell me what you're doing?"

He was silent for a bit while finishing his search inside the toilet stalls, but then her husband had a big smile on his face when he finally walked back over to her. Without saying a word, he put his hands on her hips to pick her up, making Gillette gasp as she suddenly found herself sitting on the sink counter, now eye-level with him, and when he kissed her, his yellow eyes started glowing a little brighter from absorbing the spores in her saliva.

"My love, I've got news that is going to make you _so_ happy." Tobias began, holding out the random things he had collected in his hand. "There's someone _new_ onboard the Starlight, and that means they probably know where we can find the container."

Again, the brunette was confused, looking at the things that he had picked up, such as a bullet casing and a black substance on a piece of paper towel, and trying to see any meaning to them but coming up with nothing… to which her husband was more than happy to explain. His first clue had been no longer hearing the soft _ding_ of the elevator again and again, leading him to discover that some of the degraded zombies had been killed, which was proof enough that someone had been there, but not so far as who.

"The zombie on the first level had been killed near the directory map." Tobias said, pulling her closer to the edge of the sink counter so they were closer. "She was also killed at close range with a 9mm pistol round to the head, but there were also several impact marks to her face, indicating a violent struggle."

From this clue, her husband was able to determine that this person was new to the ship, which was the only reason for needing a directory map, and that they hadn't known about everyone being infected. If they had been aware of the zombies, then this one couldn't have surprised the intruder enough for there to be a struggle involving kicks to the face, and since there was no blood splatter on the wall, both of them must have been on the ground.

"Most likely they were dropped in by helicopter, but not from Umbrella." Tobias continued, now undoing the strap on Gillette's high heels so that they fell to the floor. "Umbrella's people like to come in with heavy weapons, not a 9mm pistol like the one that ejected this bullet casing. They also made no effort to hide their presence, so I'm guessing a government agent, but more a soldier than a spy… until his strategy changed completely."

From what he saw between the first level and the upper ones, her husband deduced that the intruder's methods at some point switched to a more stealthy approach, shown by his decision to dispatch zombies that got in his way with a blade, such as the one by the elevator, and blunt force trauma, like the other one with its brains splattered all over the floor. What he hadn't been able to figure out, though, what at what point this decision was made… until returning to the women's restroom, that is.

"The black substance on this paper is rubber residue." He explained, taking one of the straps of her dress down off of her shoulder. "It gets left when someone wearing boots turns too fast or slides across a hard surface, like this floor, and the mark I found in the last stall was pretty big, so either the passenger list includes _Chyna_ from the _WWF_ , or…

"Or there was a _man_ in here recently." Gillette finished, now understanding everything he was saying. "And his strategy changed to be sneakier… when he saw the two of us in here a couple minutes ago. So, do you think that Leon was able to call for backup after all?"

The brunette absolutely loved it when her husband did the whole _detective_ thing, and she really wished that she could have been able to see him solving _real_ crimes in Raccoon City, but that was all before they met. He had been right, though, this was great news, since anyone that had been contacted by Leon was sure to know all the same secrets that the Agent did, so… so it was time to make it a little more difficult for this unknown intruder to move throughout the ship.

"Hear me, my loving family." She whispered, closing her eyes and focusing all of her energy on the spores that had been used to infect the crew. "I know that you are degraded and brainless, but it is time to follow your instincts… seek out all humans onboard the Starlight, and use them as a vector to spread your infection."

Everyone that had been infected the other night was now too far gone to obey specific commands, but their instincts were still intact, at least enough for them to resume activity that was more… _stereotypical_ of deranged cannibals. The point of this was not to kill the intruder, but to force him to reveal himself through the use of firearms in self-defense. A smile formed on her face, now that there was more hope once again to find container R-002, once the intruder was infected and forced to tell them everything he knew about it.

"He's probably heading for the security room… pointless, we've already checked it." Tobias said, lowering her other strap, before taking out the bobby pins so that her hair fell around her shoulders. "And as for _you_ , my darling Gillette…

 _Creak_ … the sound of the restroom door slowly opening interrupted his words, and both of them turned to see that one of the degraded zombies was now walking in. It had to lean heavily on the door, groaning almost pitifully as it followed the brunette's orders to seek out humans, and some of its discolored, blotchy skin peeled right off to the muscle below when it got caught on the door's latch.

"It must still sense me as a human." Tobias said, slowly reaching for his revolver. "So, let's give it a human response."

"No, wait, don't shoot it." Gillette replied, stopping him by grabbing his wrist. "I want to watch you _consume_ it."

Leaning in and giving her a kiss on the forehead, her husband turned toward the zombie, and walked right up to it, grabbing the monster's arm when it tried to grab him, and making the brunette gasp with excitement when he broke the zombie's arm with a wet _snap_. Now Tobias grabbed it by the other arm with one hand, and its hair by the other, wrenching its head to the side, and sinking his teeth into its infected neck… swallowing its blood in order to consume more viral cells, while Gillette leaned back on the counter… eagerly watching the whole spectacle.


	22. Chapter 22 Security Station

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Twenty Two: Security Station**

Barry wasn't sure what the point of constantly checking in with HQ on missions like this one, other than to hear them say to _keep them informed_ , especially when they weren't exactly surprised by the news that the whole ship had been infected, like they had expected it. Well, the idea wasn't too far-fetched, being that the Starlight had been suspected of being used to smuggle materials by Umbrella, and there was really only one way for _that_ to end. Still, the bearded man followed orders, alerting them to Gillette and Tobias's presence, even though HQ had no idea who they were… heh, maybe _their_ Director should get out in the field once in a while.

Thankfully, the elevator was working, and it was only a short ride up to the fourth level, where the security station was supposed to be located. With a soft, yet somehow labored sounding _ding_ , the doors slid open, allowing him and Cora to step out into… a place that was not in quite as good of condition as the other parts of the ship that they had seen. Many of the lights were out, and since it was both night time _and_ storming outside, the only light came from the remaining fixtures, which were _far_ too spaced out for them to see great details.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Barry asked when Cora moved uncomfortably close in order to grab onto his arm. "Cora, what's wrong?"

"This is a frightening environment." The red haired woman explained calmly, as if reciting something she had read. "I am afraid, and I would be more comfortable with a man to protect me, since I am a woman."

At this point, Cora was really starting to freak the bearded man out; it was understandable for her to be heavily traumatized, being that she was probably some rich girl who never had to deal with anything scary or stressful in her life, but it was like everything she did was a kind of rehearsed… mockery of human emotion. Hell, the closest thing she had done to expressing an emotion was when she had dragged him into the bathroom stall to hide from Gillette… so what was her deal?

 _Crunch-crunch_ , a new sound as they walked along the carpeted floor interrupted these thoughts, and then in a brief flash of lightning in through the porthole windows, he was able to see why this place was different than the rest of the ship. The glass on the light fixtures that were out had been shattered, with the crunching sound coming from the glass pieces on the floor, and what shattered them in the first place? Why, that was probably the _bullet holes_ in the walls near them.

The walls were peppered with such holes, while decorative furniture and plant pots were destroyed, as if there had been a really intense gunfight up there… no, wait… all of the bullet holes were impacted facing the way they came, so… had this been some kind of last stand? Had the survivors of the crew made their last stand in this hallway against the approaching zombies? If so, then where were the bodies? Except for the damage, the whole place was empty, but one of the two sides had to lose, so _where were they_?

"Cora, I need to ask you something." Barry said, stopping their walk, and putting his hands on her shoulders. "I know you said you were locked in a room during the outbreak, but did you see _anything_ that can help me figure this all out? _Anything_ at all between then and when you met me."

"I have seen Gillette command the infected." Cora replied, still not even blinking. "She gets close to people and whispers to them, and then they obey until they degrade into zombies."

Okay… that was a little bit more than what he had expected her to say… but a lot of it didn't make any sense; he had seen a million ways to infect people, but how in the hell did someone _command the infected_? And what was all this about _degrading into zombies_? Back at the Spencer Estate, they had seen that the process of infection for such things as the T-Virus could take days, if not a week… but during that time none of the subjects that he had heard about became obedient slaves.

"Her husband is powerful, but I am frightened of Gillette." The red haired woman continued, stepping closer and giving him the most awkward hug of his life. "Please protect me from Gillette, and get me off this ship."

Cora's skin was cold and clammy, and her hair smelled a bit like… what was that… _rubbing alcohol_? No, that wouldn't make any sense unless she was trying some kind of homemade hair dye, but then her hair would have been blonde and not red. Strangest of all, though, was that the bearded man felt absolutely _nothing_ during the hug… now this woman was gorgeous, and even though he was happily married, Barry should have felt something… Christ, he was only _forty-one_ … weird… everything about this damn place was just… _weird_.

Well, he wasn't going to figure out anything from just standing there, so he promised to look after her, before taking the red haired woman's hand, and leading her down the hallway. The signs of battle got more intense as they approached the open door to the security office, but then abruptly stopped as if this place had been the last stand of the survivors, before… before _whatever_ took them away. Unlike the rest of the level, this office seemed mostly untouched, like it had been purposely preserved somehow… if that wasn't ridiculous.

All of the room's lights were on, and except for the door that had been nearly pulled from its hinges, all of the equipment located within seemed to be functioning. There was a computer terminal that looked like it was being used mostly for noting security logs, since there was a list of them currently on the screen going up to about twenty four hours ago. Hey, maybe there was something in the logs that would give him more of a clue as to what was going on, but as Barry looked over the short list of reports, since the ship was only out for a day, he was surprised to see that most of them were concerning _Leon_.

In fact, _every single log_ concerned the Agent in one way or another, beginning with reports of suspicious behavior, and spiraling downward to where he had been officially accused of _five_ homicides, including that of his wife, Amanda, er, his _partner_ Amanda Pricely. There were images of the crime scenes, one showing Amanda dead on the floor of her cabin from a gunshot wound, while another showed a smaller cabin where four people had been torn to shreds, and finally the last one showed a body of a woman that looked… burned?

There was _a lot_ of evidence against Leon, and… actually, if Barry hadn't known better, he would have thought that the murders had been investigated by an experienced police detective… and then he saw the name of the _retired police officer_ who had been good enough to volunteer his services in this matter: _Tobias A. Liquid._ The bearded man read and re-read that name a dozen times, each time trying to dismiss it as a mistake, before moving over to the passenger roster on another terminal to verify.

One of the little tricks that these modern cruise liners did to keep track of their passengers was to have all of them pose for a complementary keepsake photograph, which was actually a visual registration in case anything happened to them. There were hundreds of passengers, but after typing in the desired name, Barry gasped at what came up, and would have surely dropped anything in his hands if he had bene holding something.

The image was like all the others; a backdrop of the Starlight's railing overlooking the ocean, while a happy-looking married couple stood there, smiling while the husband's arms were around his wife's waist. The wife was definitely the brunette that he had seen through the crack in the bathroom stall, and the husband… his dark sunglasses did nothing to hide his identity. An identity that was once again confirmed when the bearded man saw the label on the image that said: _Tobias and Gillette Liquid, Starlight Honeymoon Cruise, April, 2001._

So the former RPD head of Homicide Division _had_ survived Raccoon City… and apparently remarried at some point, but… but what in the hell was he doing skulking around an infected cruise ship? All right, enough questions for now, it was time to check the security monitors… which was going to take a second, since there was an entire wall of them to look across. This was probably better than having to scan through a single monitor, since there was no start point, and… hey, there they were… just coming out of that same bathroom again, but… but what was _that_?

As Tobias and Gillette seemed to be adjusting their clothes and heading back down the hallway, there was someone else visible on the screen. On all the other monitors, everyone else that Barry saw had been a zombie, but this person… a little girl with shoulder length hair, and… and maybe, _maybe_ a couple years older than his own daughter, Moira, was peeking around the corner as if she were observing them. As soon as the Liquids were gone, the little girl motioned to someone off screen, and then she moved across the corridor toward another door while… while helping _Leon Kennedy_ along.

There were bandages on his arm, leg, and the top of his head, with the Agent leaning heavily on the little girl so that they could move faster, but it was definitely him, and they were headed toward the downward stairs. Looking at different monitors in order to follow their progress, Barry watched as the little girl kept looking out for the searching couple, and only moving further with Leon once the way was clear… but where were they going?

"That's him, that's Leon!" He exclaimed, taking Cora by the hand once again. "Come on, Cora, we have to catch up with them!"

She muttered something about them leaving the ship afterwards, in her usual calm tone, but at the moment the bearded man was more concerned with catching up to Leon, and that mysterious little girl before they got away. So what were they doing? Hiding from Tobias and Gillette? The former detective was known to be a bit of an asshole, but he was still a good cop, and one of the best friends that Barry ever had, so what was he doing there, and… and who the hell was Gillette, if she could command zombies like Cora said?

He needed answers to these questions, and the only way to get them was to catch up to Leon.


	23. Chapter 23 Hidden Danger

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Twenty Three: Hidden Danger**

Thanks to what he had seen on the security monitors, it was easy to avoid Tobias and Gillette, since they seemed to be moving in a particular search pattern, and on the plus side Leon and that little girl he had seen were moving in the opposite direction. So many things about this ship didn't make sense, like how was Tobias Liquid there in the first place, let alone alive to begin with? And more importantly, what in the hell was a little girl who couldn't have been more than twelve years old doing on a ship that was advertised as a _honeymoon cruise_?

Hold on, something was wrong here, Barry thought as soon as the doors opened on the first level of the interior section. After leaving the security office, and moving back across the mostly abandoned level to the elevator, the bearded man had pushed the button to go all the way down in an attempt to catch them before they escaped, but the zombies that had been stuck in some kind of loop were no longer stuck… in fact, they were now moving around the lobby similar to how the ones had been hunting at the Spencer Estate.

They were groaning and stumbling around, seeming to still be trying to search for something at first, but then all of them stopping as soon as one of them saw the two humans coming out of the elevator. For a moment the lobby was silent as Barry and Cora stepped out into the carpeted floor, making him think that it was possible to get over to the main doors before anything happened, but as soon as they took another step, the infected passengers began to growl almost angrily as they started toward them.

"Aw, crap." The bearded man said, taking out his pistol. "Come on, Cora, keep moving along the edge of the wall… try to stay ahead of them!"

She did as she was told, the red haired woman keeping her back against the wall as she moved away from the elevator car, but the funny thing was that even though there were a couple zombies that were closer to her, all of them seemed far more interested in Barry for some reason. To be fair, these creatures had been acting different than normal zombies… heh, _normal zombies_ , what a joke… so was it possible that they were coming for him because he was more of a threat?

Cora looked like she was going to get away, getting around the room and closer to the glass double doors all the time, while Barry, on the other hand, was quickly becoming surrounded. He had expected them to all come toward him via the most direct route, which was between some couches and tables that were right in front of him, but instead they surprised him completely by fanning out almost like they were actively cutting off his escape. It had to be a coincidence; how could these drooling, brainless monsters do _anything_ strategic?

Regardless, they were getting closer, and the bearded man was about to take down the closest one, when he stopped… it would be an easy thing to kill a couple of them and run to the doors with Cora, but if there really _was_ a worse danger that came from Tobias and Gillette, what would happen if they heard the gunshot? Shit, the zombies were getting closer, and now he had no choice but to start shooting, unless he wanted to find himself trapped inside the elevator… hey, wait a second… it was an _elevator_.

The zombies were almost on him, when the bearded man stepped back into the car, making the infected passengers groan in frustration when the door slid closed, and hearing them scratch at the metal while he pushed the button for the second floor. After a slight vibration as the car moved up one level, the bearded man stepped out onto the second floor, to find that although these zombies were better at hunting that the ones he had seen back in '98, they were every bit as stupid.

Looking over the railing, he saw that all of the infected passengers down in the lobby were now moving toward the closed elevator door, scratching and groaning at it while Barry walked over to the stairs. The carpeting helped with keeping the noise down as he crept back to the first level, and now that all of the zombies were out of the way, it was an easy thing to reach the double doors where Cora was waiting just outside. Okay, long breath out… no one saw them, and now they were outside.

Of course, now it was raining harder than when he had arrived, making the deck a little slippery to walk on, but at least everything was well illuminated. The rain was kind of stinging, though, and the waves in the dark water below were becoming more intense, causing the Starlight to move up and down a little bit more as it continued moving farther out to sea. Wait a second, if the passengers and crew were all a bunch of deranged, infected cannibals, then… then was anyone steering the ship?

A nice thing about the Atlantic Ocean was that there was literally _nothing_ for thousands of square miles in every direction once leaving the continental coast, so there was no danger in the Starlight running into an island or something… at least not for a while, as long as it stayed on the original course toward Europe. This problem would have to be addressed soon regardless, but not until after catching up to Leon and that girl… shit, where had they gone?

"Leon is heading in that direction." Cora said without being asked, calmly pointing further down the deck. "I wish to locate him and leave this ship before Gillette finds us."

Barry couldn't really argue with that statement, so he motioned for her to follow him, even though it was a little hard to see with the rain stinging his face and eyes. The red haired woman, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered by it at all, she just… didn't even _blink_ in reaction as they kept walking. She didn't need to hold up her hand to keep the rain out of her eyes, nor did she need to hold onto the railing to keep from slipping like he did, but thankfully the two of them soon came to the covered area that surrounded one of the ship's swimming pools.

The rain was loud as it struck the top of the aluminum structure, but it allowed the bearded man to wipe his eyes, and get a better look around. Thanks to the storm, the clear blue water of the large pool was about ready to overflow, and a lot of the long white beach chairs had been overturned, with large drink glasses shattered nearby, as if there had been a panicked stampede through this area. No blood or bodies, though, just like near the security room, and no sign of Leon or that girl… wait a minute, was that her?

Over to the side of the covered area there was a small room, self-contained and about the size of a small office, with a single light fixture in the center, seen through the large window that took up half of the door. The bearded man only noticed this because there was suddenly a face toward the bottom… the face of a young girl with red hair peeking out to see if anyone was outside. She was probably frightened, and Barry had only taken a single step toward the office, when there was a flash of movement from behind.

From behind a large trashcan a lone figure suddenly jumped out, stepping toward them and swinging a large metal pipe before the bearded man could react. _Whack_! There was so much force behind the blow that the pipe made a whistling sound before impacting the side of, not Barry's head… but _Cora's_. The red haired woman was sent stumbling backwards toward the pool, but her assailant didn't let up. _Whack_! Another hit to the head, this time right to the face, and then a _splash_ as she fell into the nearly overflowing water.

All of this happened in only a couple seconds, so Cora had already vanished into the swimming pool by the time that Barry had been able to aim his pistol at the attacker… only to stop and let out a gasp when he saw that the man holding the pipe was none other than _Leon_. He was wearing bandages just like on the security monitor, but… but why had he just attacked an innocent woman with a pipe? What in the hell was going on here?

"Your daughter's names, what are they?!" The Agent demanded, now holding the pipe in a threatening manner. "Tell me your daughters' names _right now_ , or I swear I'll _brain_ you!"

"Moira and Polly!" The bearded man replied, stepping back and aiming the pistol again in case he attacked. "My daughters' names are Moira and Polly… now put that down and start talking, before I pop you in the kneecap!"

Both of them just stood there for a second in a kind of standoffish fashion, but then Leon slowly started lowering the pipe, and Barry began to lower his pistol a moment later. The younger man looked like he had been having a really rough time; cuts and bruises all over the visible parts of his skin, dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, and… and holy shit, Cora was _still alive_. Not only that, but the red haired woman was conscious too, climbing out of the swimming pool, and getting to her feet with that same blank look on her face.

"You have found Leon." She said with no indication of pain, nor reaction to their surprised looks. "I would like to leave this ship now so that we can escape Gillette and her infection."

"Cora… what?" The bearded man asked, trying to fight through the confusion. "What's going on here?"

"Barry, that's _not_ Cora!" Leon yelled, stopping him when he took a step toward her. "Cora was infected and burned to death more than a _day_ ago. Shoot her, and you'll see!"

Now, it was _real_ strange that such a small built woman was able to take those hits to the head without dying, and even more so now that she was standing there unharmed, but he wasn't about to just _shoot_ her, at least not before he understood a little more about what was happening. Apparently, Leon didn't agree with this plan, however, stepping forward and grabbing onto the bearded man's weapon.

 _Bang!_ During the struggle the Agent managed to get the pistol aimed at Cora and the trigger pulled, making the red headed woman twitch when the bullet slammed into her stomach. She didn't cry out or fall over, though, instead just standing there while her blood started to drip out of the wound… her brightly colored _green_ blood. She looked down at the wound, and then showed emotion for the first time when an almost disappointed looking frown crossed her face… and then her whole body changed.

For a moment the whole thing distorted, almost like she had become a partially liquid mass that was changing shape and color, becoming bigger but also losing the more distinctive features like her red hair. A couple seconds later the distortion was gone… as was Cora; replaced by a large and muscular beast of a creature with a bald head, what looked like a wound on its stomach, and a large brand on its upper body that read: _R-005_.


	24. Chapter 24 Battle in the Rain

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Twenty Four: Battle in the Rain**

Every time that Barry Burton had begun to think that the evil and depravity of the Umbrella Corporation couldn't surprise him any more, it was like the corporate heads took it as a personal challenge. Cora was gone, replaced by this… thing that kind of reminded him of those old long-coat wearing monsters that had been deployed during the Raccoon City outbreak, except for the part about having no clothes, but… but that meant that this _thing_ had been right there with him ever since boarding the Starlight… it had _hugged_ him.

"What the… what the _fuck_ is going on?!" The bearded man demanded, aiming his pistol at the monster. "What are you?!"

"Keep back from it, Barry!" Leon warned, pulling him back a step by the shoulder. "It's an _R Series_ ; it pretends to be a human it's seen before, and then attacks when the time is right. It's one of the things that Umbrella was transporting on this ship, and it's just as tough as the old T-003's."

It was hard for Barry to wrap his head around what the Agent was saying, but he would never have believed it if he had not seen it for himself. When he had met Cora she had been weird as hell, but he had never for a _moment_ doubted that she was a human, meaning that it could have attacked him at any time… so why hadn't it? She had continually insisted on wanting to leave the ship, to the point where it was annoying, so would it have attacked then, once they had gotten back to base?

"Leon, we must escape the Starlight." The beast said, its body distorting and then refocusing as Amanda Pricely, Leon's dead partner. "We must get back to headquarters, and…

The blonde woman had started walking toward them, when the Agent tossed his metal pipe at her, making a _whack_ when it struck her right in the head. There was no reaction, except to stop her from talking, and just like when it had been Cora, Amanda now stood calm, still slowly advancing regardless of the fact that Leon was now picking up and throwing everything he was capable of lifting at her. Pool furniture, small tables, a fire extinguisher, most of them struck the blonde woman, too, but she didn't react until Barry once again aimed the pistol at her.

 _Wham_! Distorting once again into its true form, a set of three tentacles suddenly shot outward from the wound on its stomach, where it looked like there had originally been four, and struck the two men in a sweeping motion. The blow easily had enough power to knock them off their feet, sending the two of them crashing into some of the remaining furniture as they slid across the deck. The pistol flew out of Barry's hand on impact, sending the weapon sliding as well, but thankfully right over to Leon, who picked it up… just in time to be backhanded by the monster.

Now the pistol skidded and bounced to a stop over near the office door where the little girl was still peeking out, leaving the Agent unarmed as well as dazed when his body broke through another table as a result from the hit… but this was not the only weapon that Barry had at his disposal. _Boom_! Taking his trusty magnum revolver out of its holster, the same weapon that had saved his life while running from Wesker's _Tyrant_ monster back in '98, the bearded man aimed and pulled the trigger, making the beast stumble when the large caliber bullet slammed into its ribs.

Green blood splattered onto the deck as a result, and then even more when the next bullet put a large hole in one of the monster's legs, forcing it to drop down to one knee hard enough to crack one of the deck's boards. _Boom_! Now up to a kneeling position himself, Barry pulled the trigger again, knocking the beast's head backwards so hard that it fell down onto the already cracked boards, destroying them completely. With an irritated growl, the monster vanished from sight, crashing down into the decks below while the two men picked themselves up.

The monster could be heard growling down below, sounding like it was getting frustrated from both the fall, as well as not being able to immediately find a way back up to them, but eventually it would, so the bearded man decided that they shouldn't be there when that happened. That blow from the creature's tentacles had really hurt, but he seemed mostly uninjured, so Barry kind of stumbled a bit while making his way over to the more severely wounded Leon, only to gasp and freeze in place after hearing the unmistakable _click_ of a pistol's hammer being pulled back.

"Don't you touch him!" A little girl's voice ordered. "I don't know you, so just… so just back up, and leave Leon alone, or I'll…

"Lucia, no." Leon groaned, holding up his hand to stop her. "Barry's a friend, he… he came here to help us… didn't you, Barry?"

"That's right." The bearded man quickly answered, making sure to not make any sudden moves or do anything to startle the little girl. "You're name is Lucia? I'm Barry Burton, and I was sent here to save your friend, Leon. You see? I'm one of the good guys, and I'm not gonna hurt you."

Lucia seemed to relax a little bit after seeing the Agent nod to confirm Barry's story, but still the little girl didn't lower the pistol. There was plenty of emotion in both her shaky voice _and_ in her facial expressions, since she looked like she was about to cry, making it highly unlikely that she was another one of those copying monsters, but… but what in the living hell was she doing on this ship?

"I'll trust you if you can do _one_ thing first." The little girl continued, her hands starting to shake from holding the pistol. "It's easy, all you have to do is tell me how _ugly_ Gillette is, and how much you _hate_ her. Do it _right now_ , or I swear I'll pull the trigger!"

Barry didn't know Gillette at all, except having seen her once or twice on the monitors, but if insulting the brunette was what it was going to take to keep a twelve year old from shooting him, then it was an easy thing to say a few insulting things about her. All he did was say that Gillette was ugly and that he hated her, and apparently this was enough to convince Lucia that the bearded man was friendly.

Once that was all settled, the little girl gave the pistol to Leon, which was fine since now they were both armed, but as soon as Barry was able to help the Agent to his feet, both he and Lucia were eager to keep moving. So the three of them left the covered swimming pool behind, retreating over to the next stairwell that they came to, but staying on the exterior decks as they went down instead of up. Leon figured that the monster wouldn't think to look for them down below in the Second Class cabins, and it was going to be a while before Tobias and Gillette came through again, and Barry needed to be caught up on a few things.

"This is just… _nuts_." The bearded man said once the whole story about what had been happening onboard the Starlight was finished. "I'm calling HQ; gonna get us a ride out of here, and then I'm gonna recommend that this whole stupid boat get sunk to the bottom of the ocean."

This decision seemed to boost the overall moral of the room, with Lucia becoming understandably the most excited of all about leaving the ship, since a situation like this must have been _terrifying_ to a little girl. So he activated the transmitter he was wearing, and gave HQ the short version of all the updates Leon had given him… however, even though they had no problem sinking the Starlight since things had deteriorated so badly, there was one small problem.

" _Extraction is going to have to wait, Barry_." HQ replied over the radio while the signal became steadily weaker. " _Even if the Starlight wasn't beyond the fuel range of our available helicopters, there is no way for us to get one off the ground in this storm. You're going to have to hold out until the storm breaks, over_."

"That's easy for _you people_ to say; you're not _out here_!" Barry shouted, standing up, and moving closer to the door. "We've got _multiple_ high-level BOW's out here, a wounded Agent, and a kid who's scared out of her mind! The passengers and crew are _gone_ , God damn it, so you get us the hell out of here right now; I don't care if you have to rent a damn _row boat_ , do you hear me?!... over."

But this time there was no response, only static, meaning that there was no way of knowing whether or not HQ even _heard_ his last transmission. That was it then, they were alone, and it was pretty damn doubtful that there would be any more agents sent out to rescue them, at least not while the still intensifying storm was raging outside. It wasn't like a hurricane or anything, but being a qualified helicopter pilot himself, the bearded man knew better than to expect anyone to fly through it, regardless of what was going on.

"Leon, I need to talk to you for a minute." Barry said. "Outside."

Somewhat reluctantly, the Agent followed him outside, with the even harder pouring rain instantly soaking the two men again as they moved around from the railing at the side of the ship, into the hallway that was covered by the deck above, and thankfully there were no zombies around for the moment. From what the bearded man had seen, most of them were positioned inside the interior sections of the ship, which gave him time to ask about the only true mystery left.

"All right, Leon, what the hell is going on with Lucia?" He asked, looking down the hallway to make sure no one was there. "A little girl onboard a cruise for newlyweds is weird enough, but finding her in a _locked cell_ that is surrounded by Umbrella materials on the lowest deck, that's… that doesn't throw up _any_ red flags for you? Not at all?"

"So what, you think she's another monster?" The Agent replied, scoffing. "She's got _emotions_ , Barry, that monster we just fought didn't, and I've been alone with her for a long time now… she could have killed me at _any_ time if there was something wrong with her, right? And she sure wouldn't have _helped_ me like she did, so let's cut the kid a break, huh?"

He understood where Leon was coming from, and there wasn't any _actual_ evidence that there was something wrong with Lucia, but then again, there also hadn't been any actual evidence of Umbrella's wrongdoing back in Raccoon City, either.


	25. Chapter 25 Unexpected Company

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Twenty Five: Unexpected Company**

Regardless of Leon's arguments, Barry decided to keep a close eye on Lucia once they got back into the Second Class cabin, but no matter how long he observed her, nor how closely paid attention for anything malicious, there was just… _nothing_. She acted like any twelve year old would have been expected to under the circumstances; constantly fidgeting around and looking out through the blinds on the window for threats. She also helped Leon as much as possible, since he was having a little trouble getting around, so… was he wrong? Was Lucia nothing but an innocent little girl?

"We can't stay here forever." The Agent groaned while the little girl helped him sit up on the bed. "Tobias and Gillette are _relentless_ , they do nothing but search this ship from top to bottom, over and over again, and no matter where we go, they always seem to be just one step behind."

"But we just have to stay ahead of them until the storm lets up, right?" Lucia asked, her voice starting to break. "And then your friends can send a helicopter, and we can get out of here… can't we? Isn't that what your friends said?"

Now the bearded man was starting to feel bad for the little girl, standing there with her hands shaking a little, looking like she was about to cry while staring up at Leon in the hopes that he could keep her safe. Maybe she was just another victim caught up in Umbrella's schemes, and… and to be honest, her story for why she was onboard the Starlight was so ridiculous that it might have just been true.

Glancing over at the clock on the wall, Barry realized that they had been sitting inside this cabin for over an hour, and if Tobias Liquid was hunting them, then… hey, then why hadn't he found them yet? Back in Raccoon City, the bearded man had once seen him hunt a suspected killer through the sewer system without losing his trail for more than a few minutes, and this ship was _a lot_ less complicated than those foul smelling tunnels… so where was he?

"I think you're right, Leon, we need to go." He said, taking a look through the blinds at the empty, rain soaked deck outside. "Hey, if we got up to the bridge, do you think we could figure out how to turn this ship back around… or even cut the engines so we don't get further out of range for extraction?"

The bearded man had been a pilot in the Air Force, and the idea of trying to gain steering control of the Starlight had just come to him, but at the same time he had absolutely no idea how to drive it. Helicopters and airplanes were easy, but nautical vessels had a million different controls, from what he had seen in his limited experience. Well, even if they couldn't steer the thing, it shouldn't be _that_ hard to find the engine shut off switch, and it wasn't like anyone else had a better idea, so it was back out into the rain for the three of them.

Lucia was the lucky one, since all she had to do to keep mostly dry was to pull up the hood of the yellow rain jacket she was wearing, but Leon was still dressed like a tourist with his flowered shirt and sandals, so if the Agent wasn't careful, he was likely to end up with pneumonia or something from getting all wet like this. The storm had intensified to the point where it was hard to see the deck ahead, even with most of the Starlight's exterior lighting still operational, so the three of them stayed under covered areas where they could.

Of course, with covered areas came the presence of more infected passengers, most of which were thankfully wandering around inside of the other cabins that they passed on their way to the next staircase. Quietly shutting the doors to those rooms served as a way to keep the zombies trapped, and the storm itself helped with muffling the sound from the pistol that Leon was carrying as they dealt with the ones who had wandered into the covered corridors.

Every once in a while they would see an infected passenger wander onto the exterior deck, and since they didn't know how to keep balance or hold onto guard rails, that zombie would soon be washed over the side of the ship the next time the Starlight hit a large wave. _Bang!_ Another zombie went down, discolored blood oozing from its head wound after it fell to the floor, and although they were able to keep going like this without serious incident, Barry was worried that each shot would bring the attention of Tobias… or that people-mimicking monster.

But it didn't, and three zombies and four corridors later, the three of them had arrived at the main stairwell that led up to the bridge. Leon had been there before, so he led the way, although there weren't that many bullets left for his pistol, and they didn't dare use the bearded man's magnum revolver unless it was an emergency. Would it have been faster to take the elevator? Yes, but the enclosed car would have left them trapped if the doors opened and the infected were present, and even though it was more work, the stairwell gave them the option to retreat if needed.

Strangely enough, though, the higher up the ship's tower toward the bridge that they climbed, the less of an infected presence the three of them encountered, when Barry would have expected the exact opposite. He figured that the bridge would be more heavily guarded, especially if Gillette really was capable of controlling the zombies to a certain extent, but when they finally reached the highest deck, where the Agent had once been taken prisoner, they found the place to be totally deserted.

"All right, what are we looking for?" Leon asked as he stepped into the bridge's doorway with pistol at the ready. "I don't suppose there's just a big red button that…

 _Whack!_ Suddenly a flash of upward movement from around the other side of the doorframe, and the Agent spit out blood after the stock of a rifle caught him underneath the chin. The pistol clamored to the floor while Leon fell over onto the nearest console in the room, and Barry would have rushed to his aid, if the bearded man had not suffered his own ambush at the same time. However, the stock of his assailant's rifle only grazed his cheek instead of being dead on, so Barry was able to grab onto the assault rifle in the arms of a man who was wearing… black riot armor?

Yes, the man who attacked him was wearing a black Kevlar helmet, gasmask, and riot gear similar to what a police department _SWAT Team_ would have used, as was the man who was continuing to attack Leon inside the bridge. Intending to simply steal the rifle and hold the masked man prisoner, the bearded man shoved his assailant backwards, but the deck was so slippery that the masked man lost his footing after his legs came up against the railing, causing him to scream as he tumbled over the edge.

" _Don't move, asshole_!" A voice ordered through a gasmask as two more men came around the corners on both side of him, weapons aimed. " _Toss your weapons over the side, and then get on your God damn knees, right the hell now! I said 'now', shithead_!"

 _Tat!_ With that, the apparent leader of the armored men pulled the trigger, causing the bullet to destroy a small piece of the deck flooring between Barry's legs, and showing the bearded man that they were serious. As much as he didn't want to, there didn't seem to be much choice other than to do as they said, especially when he saw that one of the men was pointing a pistol at Lucia's head. The little girl was shaking with fear, and she cried out when the man grabbed her hair to keep her from running away, prompting him to toss his revolver over the side of the railing.

Two more men had joined the one who attacked Leon inside the bridge as well, and Barry could see them securing the Agent's wrists behind his back with a _zip-tie_ , while he was ordered to get on his knees. Once Leon was helpless, the armored men knocked him to the floor and began kicking him, and once again the bearded man would have helped, if he hadn't been getting forced down onto his face so that he could be bound with a zip-tie as well. He knew what was coming next, from hearing Leon's cries of pain as the beating continued, but that didn't make it hurt any less when the boot of the nearest assailant connected with his jaw.

" _Here, check this little brat_." The leader ordered, pushing Lucia over to the men who were finally done working Leon over. " _The Captain said the container will be marked with R-002, so don't be afraid to get rough_."

The little girl screamed as two of them picked her up, slamming her down onto the map table, and very roughly examining her neck, arms, and legs as if looking for something. Meanwhile, the men outside were kicking and stomping Barry as hard as they could, laughing a little before yelling something about the man he had tossed over the side during the ambush. He tried to avoid their hits long enough to free himself, but failed, and soon the bearded man was unable to fight back as they just kept kicking him… and kicking him.

" _Got it_!" A voice yelled from inside the bridge yelled while Lucia kept screaming. " _R-002, stamped right here on the bottom of her foot, Captain! God damn it, shut the fuck up_!"

In a quick motion, the little girl's crying stopped when the armored man was heard striking Lucia across the face, and then Barry could see her again from where he was, when she fell to the floor next to Leon. They had removed her shoes and socks, as well as her rain coat, thankfully finding what they were looking for before needing to remove anything else, but… but why would she have R-002 branded on her foot? Wasn't that the number of the container that Leon said Tobias and Gillette were looking for?

" _Whiney little brat_." The Captain grunted through his gasmask. " _You'd think she never got strip-searched before… all right, take the girl to the sub, then find out everything these two idiots know… and then toss them overboard_."


	26. Chapter 26 Targets Extracted

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Twenty Six: Targets Extracted**

Well, so much for trying to gain control of the ship, Barry thought as he and Leon were forced to walk back down the stairwell from which they came, albeit now limping a bit and moving a lot slower than they had been able to before, thanks to the beating they had received. Wrists bound behind their backs with zip-ties, with the barrels of assault rifles sticking into them to stop any plans for escape or resistance, there was nothing that the bearded man could do to help himself or Lucia, who was being carried under the arm of one of the bigger armored men.

Her boots were still off, allowing Barry to see that R-002 was indeed stamped onto the bottom of her arch, but why the hell would that be there? Not that there was a lot of time for questions while being marched all the way back down to the main exterior deck of the ship, where it was still raining just as hard as it had been before. Where had these men come from? Where were they being taken? The bearded man thought he had simply heard the Captain wrong when he said for them to be taken to the _sub_ , but then…

" _All right, we're back_." The Captain said, touching his ear. " _Open the hatch_."

Sure enough, right up against the starboard side of the ship, there was a large black submarine bobbing up and down in the water, where no one would ever have been able to see it unless they knew exactly where to look. One of the metal emergency ladders bolted to the hull of the Starlight allowed them to move up and down with ease, but it wasn't until the next flash of lightning that Barry was able to figure out exactly who these people were.

At the same time that a hatch was swinging open on top of the submarine, the distant lightning illuminated a clearly painted logo on the side of the black hull… the red and white logo of the _Umbrella Corporation_. So _that_ was who these people were; another retrieval team sent in from the company to clean up their mess… with he and Leon about to become part of that mess when the armored men forced them to kneel down on the wooden deck boards right next to the railing.

" _Have you gotten anything from that computer Cora left for us_?" The Captain continued as Lucia was carried down the ladder toward the sub. " _I want to know who these two assholes are, just in case they're important… the company pays 'double' for important_."

" _Yes, Sir, the one with the beard is Bernard Burton_." A voice replied over the radio. " _He's cost the company a lot of money since '98, but he's also a dipshit with no valuable Intel. But hey, the other guy matches the picture that Captain Cora sent to us when she radioed: brave, pretty, dumb as a box of rocks… don't kill Leon, that's her UBCS guy_."

Suddenly everyone, Barry included, looked at the Agent with surprise, before the men aiming their rifles at him slowly lowered them. The masked Captain muttered something about needing to be debriefed, and then ordered his men to take Leon onboard and have him looked at by the ship's surgeon. With that, the Agent was cut free of the zip-ties, helped to stand up, and then assisted in going down the ladder, where he disappeared from the bearded man's sight.

The good news: Apparently Leon and Lucia weren't just going to be shot outright. The Bad news: Now Barry was alone, still zip-tied and on his knees, being stared at by the Captain and his remaining two men. They had been so distracted with Lucia, and… somehow thinking that Leon was a member of Umbrella's suicide force, that they hadn't noticed him trying to break free of the zip-tie. It was a really thick one, so getting his wrists free was not an easy task, especially with the threat of being killed at any time.

" _All right, you piece of trash_." The Captain said, folding his arms and scoffing a little. " _Before I have my men shoot you in the legs and toss you overboard, you're going to tell me every important piece of information you know. What does the computer say we can use for leverage with this dolt_?"

" _It says that his family is his biggest weakness, and has been used to break him before_." That other voice on the radio replied. " _He has a wife, Kathy, and two daughters, Moira and Polly, current location… Canada_."

"I bet it doesn't say what happened to the _last guy_ who threatened my family, does it?!" Barry demanded, feeling the zip-tie give a little. "You worthless fucking Umbrella _cowards_! How about you untie me, and fight me like a man, you…

 _Whack_! His words were interrupted when the armored man standing next to him suddenly hit him in the side of the head with the stock of his rifle, making the bearded man cry out as he fell against the guardrail. _Whack_! There was no crying out this time, since the wind was knocked out of him when the rifle stock was rammed into his ribs, this time making him sink the rest of the way down onto the deck. _Whack_! Barry had just started trying to sit up, when he got a real close look at the stock of that rifle when it caught him right between the eyes, and this time he stopped moving.

Well, not stopping moving _completely_ , but just kind of slowly rolling over onto his side while the whole world seemed to spin a little in front of his eyes, and hearing the echoing sound of the armored men laughing at him through their gasmasks. Maybe the bearded man was going crazy, but for a minute he found himself noticing that there were times when it was actually preferable to face viral-monsters instead of normal humans in these situations. While BOW's were certainly frightening and deadly, people at times could be so twisted and evil that he would have rather been fighting off the zombies.

" _All right, I'm going back to the sub_." The Captain said, clearly becoming bored. " _Once you're done with him, steer the Starlight farther out to sea, and then we'll sink it in international waters. Oh, and boys… you'll get a bonus if you can get our friend here to tell you his family's exact location_."

With that, the Captain moved onto the ladder, and climbed all the way down to the waiting submarine, where he vanished into the open hatch just like Leon and Lucia. A moment later the hatch swung closed with a loud _clang_ , and then the Umbrella submarine began to move away from the Starlight's hull. It didn't dive, instead remaining on the surface so that Barry could see it getting smaller until finally vanishing into the darkness.

" _How long do you think it'll take to make this wimp sing like a bird_?" One of the two remaining armored men asked. " _I can't wait till he starts crying and gives up his family to save himself… they always do_."

" _I can't wait to put zip-ties on his wife_." The other one laughed. " _I bet she's hot… hot chicks always marry losers, and I know she'd do 'anything' to save her daughters… and once I'm done with her, maybe I'll zip-tie 'them', too_."

As much as the bearded man wanted to jump up and kill them for talking about his family like that, the blows he had taken were making it difficult to do anything at all, as well as the zip-tie… which was giving way slowly but surely. _Yeah, good, keep laughing, you assholes_ , he thought while twisting his wrists as hard as he could, his bonds were giving more and more, and any minute now he would be free to… wait, who was that over there standing behind them? _Oh no… oh no, no, no, no!_

"Hello." The overly calm voice of Amanda Pricely said, causing the two men to turn around. "I do not remember you here from before… are you here to rescue me?"

Barry was not surprised when the two men slowly lowered their weapons, because if he had not known the truth about R-005, he would have been just as hesitant to shoot such a beautiful young woman. But she wasn't a woman at all, she was a deadly, shapeshifting monster… not that he was going to tell _them_ that… not while it was giving him the time he needed to finish freeing himself… come on… almost broken…

" _Cora said there weren't any other survivors_." The first one whispered to his partner before looking back at her. " _Yeah, sweetheart, we're here to rescue you, so, uh… why don't you do us a favor and keep your hands where we can see them, and come on over here_?"

Amanda did as they said, her facial expression still blank as she kept her hands out to the side, walking slowly toward them, until they finally advanced the last few steps toward her, but… apparently she didn't like the idea of having her hands zip-tied. No sooner had the bonds been in place, when the blonde woman's whole body distorted, quickly changing back into the beast's true form, and lifting the first armored man off his feet as he was stabbed right through the armor with its three remaining stomach tentacles.

They tore through his armor and body as if they were made of paper, the blood-soaked pointed ends of the tentacles sticking out through his back while he flailed around, making gasping sounds while his rifle fell from his hands. _Ratta-tatta-ratta-tatta_! Once his partner got over the initial shock of seeing this, he aimed at the monster and opened fire, peppering its massive body with bullet holes that each leaked out some of its bright green blood.

 _Snap_! Barry's bonds were broken just as the beast tossed the first armored man over the railing, the noise of this and him hitting the water muffled by the continuing gunfire as the beast was driven backwards. Green blood splattered down onto the deck boards, only to be quickly washed away by the storm, and although the bearded man was trying to use this distraction to escape, he found that moving at all was a little more difficult than he planned. He was still dizzy, and his whole body was sore from the beating he and Leon had taken, so he had just managed to use the railing to pull himself to his feet when the armored man's rifle went _click_.

The monster's wounds closed up almost immediately after the gunfire stopped, but instead of running away, the armored fool stood where he was, fumbling around with clumsy, nervous hands as he tried to reload. Barry, on the other hand, only stopped long enough to pick up the other rifle that had fallen near him, and he had already taken several steps away by the time that the last armored man started to scream.

These screams did not last as long as the bearded man had hoped, stopping after the armored man was tossed overboard, soon to be devoured by the Starlight's giant rotors, but there was no time to feel sorry for him. Even without turning back, Barry knew that the beast was coming for him now, hearing the loud noise of its heavy footsteps going _thump-thump-thump_ slowly across the deck while he tried to find some means of escape.


	27. Chapter 27 Sudden Rescue

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Twenty Seven: Sudden Rescue**

As if the wounds he had received from the Umbrella agents weren't bad enough, Barry's escape from the R-005 monster was further slowed by the storm, how slippery the Starlight's deck and railing had been made _because_ of the storm, and finally the effort of trying to carry the recovered assault rifle, without which he was defenseless. The weapon was a standard _M4 Carbine_ with a collapsible stock, which made it a little easier to carry once compacted, but the bearded man couldn't risk turning around to fire it, since the lead he had was constantly shrinking.

There was nowhere for him to hide out in the open like this, so Barry turned and moved away from the railing, doing a sort of stumble across the deck toward the first door that he saw, which happened to be a stairwell that led back down into the ship. Pushing the door open, and rushing inside, he considered using the rifle as a bar to hold them closed again to give him more time, but the monster was probably strong enough to just break right through, which would leave him defenseless again, so that was not happening.

No rain inside the stairwell, though, making it a lot easier to keep his balance while again leaning heavily on the railing, and the bearded man had just gone around the first turn when he heard the doors fly open with a hard _bam_ against the walls. Not stopping to look back, Barry just kept moving, going around and around while moving deeper into the ship's lower levels, with the beast only a single deck above at all times.

It sounded like it had slowed down to match his pace, moving a lot more quietly as well, as if it had expected him to stage an ambush somewhere, but he was in no condition to do so, especially with how ineffective the rifle's small caliber bullets were… man, if he could have only kept his magnum. The fact that he would probably never see that revolver again was only one of the awful truths that he was facing in this situation, with the other being that in a very short amount of time he would be out of decks to escape to.

Down beyond Third Class, and into the service decks, the bearded man considered ducking into the kitchens, but there was no guarantee that the beast wouldn't hear the door and follow him, so he continued on… until reaching a deck where everything got really loud. Not ear-splitting loud, but enough to muffle the noise of a door being closed, so without taking any more time to think, he took a chance in ducking through a door that was marked _Engineering Deck_.

Once through, he closed the door as quickly as possible, and kept moving, finding himself in an area that looked more like the basement of some factory than the bowels of a ship. There were exposed conduits and pipes running along the concrete and steel walls, all illuminated by a series of open cage light fixtures that were strung along the upper corner, and the rumble of machinery only got louder the deeper he went. Hopefully the monster had continued all the way down, and would have to backtrack, but not before Barry got to the other side of the ship, and made his way back… _oh no_.

He must have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the corridors, because after reaching the bottom of another small metal staircase, he found himself at a dead end. On top of the pipes and conduits, this chamber was filled with large pistons that kept rotating up and down, most likely powered by the industrial generators that they were linked to. This was where he had needed to go according to him and Leon's original plan before the Umbrella ambush, but now it was kind of pointless to stop the ship's engines… fuck it, gotta double back.

The bearded man had just turned around to back the way he came, only to stop in his tracks, and gasp at what he saw standing at the top of the stairs. It was Cora, the red haired woman he had met when he first arrived on the Starlight, or at least the _form_ of her that the monster had taken to fool him… and that form was aiming the other armored man's assault rifle right at him while her expression remained blank.

"Barry, I do not wish to cause you any harm." She stated calmly, beginning to walk down the stairs. "It is in the interest of both of us that we flee from Gillette, and I will spare your life if you assist me in doing so."

"I can't… I _won't_ help you!" Barry replied, grunting with pain as he aimed his rifle at her. "You're not Cora… you're not Amanda… you're just another one of Umbrella's monsters, and I won't let you leave this ship!"

 _Ratta-tatta-ratta-tatta_! Cora groaned as her torso was dotted in bullet holes, while the engine chamber was illuminated in flashes of light from the rifle being fired. Every single one of his bullets struck its target, spraying her green blood all over the nearby pipes and conduits as she fell back onto a generator console, but then the rifle clicked empty, and the bearded man realized that he hadn't had the time to pick up any extra ammo for it.

She had dropped hers on the floor, but the monster's wounds were already closing up, so there was no time to grab it… only time to toss his empty rifle at her and run for the stairs. He had to get away; had to get up the stairs, turn down another corridor, and get back to the stairs in order to find a better hiding place. Unfortunately, he had only gotten about halfway up the stairs, when Cora's hand locked around his ankle, making him fall down, and then pulling him back down the stairs on his stomach.

"Barry, I require your assistance in escaping from Gillette." The red haired woman said, grabbing him by the hair and starting to drag him up the steps. "We will return to the radio room, and you will call for…

 _Boom_! Cora's words were stopped by the familiar sound of a high caliber bullet being fired, and suddenly Barry was free when the hit to her shoulder forced her to let go of him, grabbing onto the railing on the other side to keep her balance. _Boom_! Another shot from at the top of the stairs in front of them, this time striking her in the stomach, and making green blood splatter across the stairs as she bent forward. Boom! The red haired woman was just looking up when the next bullet struck her in the forehead, making her lose her grip on the railing as she tumbled backwards down the metal stairs into the engine chamber.

Looking up to see who the shooter was, the bearded man could hardly believe his eyes, even thought he had seen his old friend clearly as day on the security monitors. Tobias Liquid, the Lieutenant in charge of RPD Homicide Division, who was thought to have died in the hospital during the T-Virus outbreak, was standing at the top of the stairs, emptying the last three bullets in the cylinder of Barry's magnum revolver into Cora's back each time she started to get up.

"I found your weapon on up on the deck." He said casually, checking the cylinder. "Sorry, I used all your bullets… I'll be right back."

Leon was right, the bearded man thought as Tobias dropped the revolver next to him and started down the stairs… the man's eyes really _were_ yellow, and now he was walking right toward the R-005 monster as it's body distorted and shifted back into its true form. Instead of finishing the walk, however, the yellow eyed man leapt toward the beast, legs first, and kicking it in the face with both feet like something out of the _WWF_ , resulting with both of them crashing to the ground.

Tobias was up first, punching the monster in the side of the head when it was getting up, sending it back down to one knee, but then its stomach tentacles shot out into a wide swing that struck the yellow eyed man in the side, making him stumble into the side of one of the generators while it got up. Now the beast swung its large fist at him, but Tobias ducked out of the way, getting around behind the monster, grabbing it around the waist, and slowly lifting it off its feet.

 _Wham_! Lifting the beast while leaning farther and farther backwards, it was only a matter of time before the monster's head struck the metal floor hard enough to leave a dent. Again racing to get to their feet, the yellow eyed man punched at the monster's face, but this time it caught his fist in its large hand, and slugged him in the stomach with the other, hard enough to make his feet leave the ground for a second. It swung again, but now the yellow eyed man leaned out of the way, twisting the beast's arm while kicking it in the back of the leg to put it off balance, and then twisting around while holding the arm so that it had to let go of him to avoid getting flipped over.

From what Barry could see as he struggled to reload his revolver from the bullets on his belt, the R-005 monster was physically stronger, but Tobias was faster and more skilled when it came to combat. Of course, regardless of what his old friend had become, the bearded man intended to help him once his cylinder was full… but then there was more movement as a gorgeous brunette wearing a formal dress and high heels politely said _excuse me_ as she walked past him down the stairs.

Was this Gillette? The one that Leon had described, and the monster had been so desperate to find a way to escape? It looked like the girl he had seen on the monitors, and judging by how the beast disengaged from Tobias and backed away upon seeing her, made it pretty obvious. The yellow eyed man's eyes seemed to start glowing brighter when the brunette moved closer to him, and then he laughed at the beast, shaking his head in what almost looked like pity while Gillette took a moment to remove her heels.

"You are not Reynaldo." She said, still kind of politely after giving Tobias her shoes to hold. "If you are not Reynaldo, then you are not _family_ , and if you are not family, then I'm going to _punish you_ for trying to hurt my husband."

The monster took another step back as she advanced, but then its stomach tentacles shot out to stab her… which she easily grabbed, collected under her arm, and ripped off, causing a spray of green blood as the monster groaned. Next it balled up a fist and punched at her, catching Gillette right in the face, but only succeeding in making her twitch a little. Instead of hitting back, however, the brunette grabbed the monster by the face and used her hands to force its mouth open… before taking a deep breath, and blowing a stream of what looked like black smoke right down its throat.

Effects of whatever that was were instant; the beast grabbing its head and roaring as if it were in pain, and then its body beginning to swell up as if it were a balloon being inflated with air until the monster was nearly unrecognizable. It continued to roar in agony while Gillette held up her hand, and then she snapped her fingers, causing the beast to explode in a splash of green blood that coated the nearby walls and machinery. Just like that, the beast of R-005 was gone, leaving Barry alone with Tobias and Gillette Liquid… who were now both looking at him.


	28. Chapter 28 Container R-002

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Twenty Eight: Container R-002**

The last image of Barry that Leon had before being pulled down into the Umbrella submarine, was of the bearded man being beaten with the stock of a rifle, but then the Captain came down a few moments later, and the submarine began to move. The Agent wanted to help Barry, but Lucia needed to be rescued as well, and a little girl didn't stand quite as good of a chance alone against Umbrella agents as a grown man did, so he allowed them to think, as Cora had, that he was a member of the UBCS.

Once onboard the much smaller ship that was illuminated mostly by red open cage lightbulbs mounted on the walls and control panel indicator lights, the little girl was placed in a sealed transparent chamber that looked almost like a quarantine cell, while Leon was taken to see the ship's surgeon. While the doctor patched him up, the Captain took off his gasmask, revealing that he was an older man with a graying beard, and began to ask him all kinds of questions about the Starlight Mission.

Not wanting to blow his cover just yet, the Agent went along with what was most likely told to him by Cora before she died, with the only thing him not being able to reveal being the location of her team's database computer. His best bet was that Tobias had taken it when he killed the rest of Cora's team, and although the Captain was disappointed with not being able to recover it, according to him the mission was still a success if the computer was destroyed… which would happen once they sank the Starlight with torpedoes once it reached international waters.

"It sounds like you've got all your bases covered, Captain." The Agent said, feeling light-headed for a moment as the doctor gave him a generous amount of morphine. "But there's one thing I don't understand: Why did you want Lucia so badly, I mean… she's just a little girl."

"Cora was right, you really _are_ tough, brave, and stupid." The Captain replied. "That girl didn't just happen to be onboard the Starlight by accident; the company needed to transport a highly dangerous prototype BOW without detection, and according to my orders, they did so by reducing it and placing the creature inside the body of a little girl marked with the designation R-002. So no matter what happens with the Starlight or the computer, that little girl _must_ reach her destination."

As shocking and disgusting as the thought of Umbrella doing that to a little girl was, this revelation made Leon understand why Tobias and Gillette were having so much difficulty locating container R-002… and why the yellow eyed creature's tracking efforts kept him right on their trail… because he had been after _Lucia_ the whole time. All right, so there was a dormant creature inside the little girl's body, which meant it couldn't harm anyone as far as he knew, and if the Starlight was sunk, it would take care of Tobias, Gillette, and R-005… great as long as Barry somehow got away beforehand… but there was one last thing bothering him.

"So what happens when Lucia gets to base?" The Agent asked. "I mean, what are they going to do with her after the creature gets extracted?"

"Extracted?" The Captain asked, laughing a little. "No, no, they're not going to _extract_ the creature at all… it's going to come out of her on its own. They were a little vague about it, but from what I can tell, the BOW is going to _eat_ its way out of her, or something like that… my orders weren't clear."

Okay, maybe this situation was even worse than he had imagined, but somehow even after everything that he had seen Umbrella do to innocent people, he still couldn't imagine _anyone_ just… tying a little girl to a chair and letting a monster tear its way out of her body like in that _Alien_ movie. The morphine and bandages might have stopped the pain, but unfortunately the Agent was in no condition to physically stop the Captain from doing any of this.

"All right, on your feet, soldier." The Captain continued, helping Leon stand up. "We're gonna put the girl on ice until we get to base, and then I've got some more questions for you. This way."

The older man led him out of sickbay, and down a narrow corridor back to the main section of the submarine, where Lucia was sitting on the floor of the Plexiglas prison. There were some control levers on the wall next to it, most likely to operate whatever mechanism was supposed to _put her on ice_ , as had been said, but there were also several armored men with assault rifles operating the main controls for the submarine, so there was no way to try and help Lucia without getting himself killed.

"Don't look so nervous, kid, we're perfectly safe here." The Captain explained. "That Plexiglas is four inches thick, I've got fifteen armed men in here… well, _twelve_ now, and here, come take a look at this, you're gonna love it."

He waved for Leon to follow him over to a security locker, and when the older man opened it up with his key, there was an old _M79 Grenade Launcher_ lying on the shelf next to a single grenade cartridge that… that seemed to be glowing an odd greenish-yellow color. The designation _P-000_ was stamped into the casing of the cartridge, and the whole thing gave the Agent an unsettled feeling just to be near it.

"That right there is concentrated _P-Epsilon_." The older man continued. "They don't make it anymore because the gas form is unstable, but when it's compressed into fluid like this it'll kill even an old T-003 in a single direct hit… which is good because this is the only shell."

Well, that certainly would have come in handy back in Raccoon City when that green long coat wearing monster was stalk hunting him through the precinct, Leon thought, briefly flashing back to hiding under the desk in that office while the monster stomped closer and closer. But then this memory was thankfully interrupted by the closing of the locker, before the Captain walked over to the controls on the wall.

"Lucia, I need you to go over to that panel on the wall right there." He said after pushing the intercom button. "That's a good girl; now we're gonna put you to sleep for the rest of the trip, but I need you to put your arm against that little slot there, we're just gonna give you a little shot of the preparation cocktail so that the process will be easier."

Although visibly nervous about what was happening, the little girl did what she was told, putting her arm up to the tiny slot, only to gasp and pull it away after being stuck with the needle. Again, the Captain said that she was a good girl, and started to announce to the nearby crew that they were about to begin the freezing process, only to stop in mid-sentence. Leon also froze in place, with both of them looking in shock at Lucia's arm… where a drop of _green_ blood had run down from the injection.

The only thing that the Agent could think of was his encounters with the R-005 beast, where the monster had bled green after each wound, and then remembering how easily it had assumed the forms of both Cora and Amanda to go undetected. But this wasn't possible, R-005 was an emotional blank-slate, but Lucia was so emotional and so… so human… even now when she saw the green blood, and let out a sigh, not of surprise, but of disappointment when she realized that she was caught.

" _I didn't want to lie to you, Leon_." She said, her voice coming through the intercom. " _I just wanted to remain hidden until we got away from Gillette, but… but I guess that's not possible anymore, is it? And now… and now I have to kill the submarine's crew_."

Seeming to become jolted out of his shock by these words, the Captain slammed his hand down on one of the largest buttons on the control panel, causing an alarm to sound as cold, frosty air began to get pumped into the containment cell. Lucia's body began to distort just as the chamber became too foggy for them to see inside, but there was a faint shadow still visible… a faint shadow that was getting _really_ big.

Suddenly another alarm sounded as the claws on a large green hand pierced the Plexiglas, and now yellow warning lights were starting to spin as those claws moved across the transparent wall, allowing the frozen air to escape out into the main room. The Captain was forced to stop the freezing process so that everyone onboard wouldn't get frozen as well, and soon the fog cleared, allowing them to see not a little girl inside of the cell, but a massive, green reptilian looking monster, with long claws at the end of its fingers, and spikes going down its back.

Drawn by the alarms, the whole crew was now in the main area, rifles pointed at the containment cell while the Captain went for the security locker; his hands fumbling to get the key into the lock before… too late. With another slice of its claws, the green monster was free, with Leon and the Captain having to drop to the floor to avoid the hail of gunfire that erupted when it tried to leave the cell.

The flashing lights, echoing noise, and smoke caused by the crew's attempt to contain the R-002 monster was deafening to almost all of the Agent's senses and seemed to go on forever, at least until all of the rifles were empty… and the monster was still standing. However, while the bald headed R-005 beast had been easily driven back by small arms fire, this one had simply remained where it was, grunting and twitching as it took the bullets head-on, but not giving an inch while its green blood was splattering on the floor.

And then it moved… waiting until everyone was scrambling to reload, the monster leapt out of the shredded containment cell, and sliced two men nearly in half just as easily as if they hadn't been wearing any armor at all. Seeing what was happening, most of the armored men dropped their rifles, now taking out their pistols and opening fire with slightly larger caliber bullets, but the monster didn't stop… it tossed one man against the wall so hard that his head was busted open, and completely bit another one's head off by opening its massive jaws and clamping down on the neck, before spitting the head into the arms of the next man, and then stabbing right through him and the one behind him at the same time with its claws.

One by one the crew of the Umbrella submarine were being wiped out; battle cries quickly becoming screams, which became silence as even the ones who tried to run away weren't shown any mercy. The last two men ran up the stairs toward the escape hatch while their third one was having his arms ripped off, but were unable to open it before the monster had caught up to them. Picking up the first one and simply folding him in half with its arms, the green beast discarded the choking, dying man, in order to grab onto the last one, lifting him over its head, and tossing him back across the chamber to where the Captain had just gotten the security box open.

In fact, the older man had gotten as far as putting the P-Epsilon cartridge into the weapon and closing the chamber, only to have the grenade launcher fly from his hands and slide across the floor when he was tackled by the flying armored man. Both of them struggled to get up as the green monster slowly walked toward them, and then there were more flashes of light when the Captain took out his pistol and emptied it at the beast. As with the others, these shots did nothing, and soon it was standing right over the two of them… only to distort and turn back into Lucia.

"That really wasn't nice, you know." The little girl scolded, shaking her finger at them. "Having a twelve year old girl _strip-searched_ is bad enough, but then _groping_ her while you beat up her best friend? That's just… _unacceptable_."

Their screams echoed throughout the mostly empty submarine while Lucia took her time with them… but she seemed to forget all about Leon, who was crawling closer and closer to where the fallen grenade launcher had stopped against the wall.


	29. Chapter 29 Old Friends

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Twenty Nine: Old Friends**

"I know it hurts, but try to hold still." Gillette said as she moved the suture carefully with her fingers. "If I can do this neatly enough, there'll hardly be a scar at all… isn't that great?"

The fact that he wasn't going to have a massive scar between his eyes? Yes, that was great, but as far as the situation went, that was the only good point as far as Barry was concerned. He tried to hold still as she moved the needle and thread so close to his eyes, but was unable to keep himself from sweating profusely, as well as shaking a little from being so close to her. Leon had explained all about what the brunette really was and how she had managed to infect everyone onboard the Starlight in less than an hour, and now… she was _right there_.

After the R-005 beast had been imploded, Tobias had helped the bearded man up, and supported most of his weight as the three of them walked out of the engineering section together, taking the elevator back up to the surface deck. This walk continued until they entered a part of the ship that Barry had not seen yet: A place that looked like an old fashioned piano bar, complete with large grand piano on a stage toward the back. There were several small round tables, looking like they had been set up for a dinner party before the outbreak, and it was at one of these tables where the bearded man was sitting with Gillette as she tended to his wounds.

Meanwhile, her husband, Tobias, was over at the bar, producing a slight _crash_ as he casually broke a bottle of wine over a nearby infected passenger's head. The noise had startled the already on-edge Barry, but the brunette remained steady as ever with the needle. She had already put bandages on his larger cuts, and there had even been some morphine inside of the first-aid kit that she had pulled off the wall, so it was getting easier to breathe even with the hits he had taken to the ribs.

"It's so nice to finally meet one of my husband's friends." Gillette continued, cutting off and tying the thread once finished. "Tobias told me all about when you two were in high school together, and how you both joined the RPD, and even when you both were in _Desert Storm_ … I can't wait until this is all over, so I can meet your family."

"Look, you do what you _want_ to me, all right?" The bearded man said, his voice a lot more shaky than he intended. "Just leave my family out of this."

Now the brunette looked like she was confused; she just looked at him for a few seconds with her head slightly tilted to the side, and then starting to say something, only to get interrupted by the arrival of Tobias. The yellow eyed man sat down on the third seat at the small table, setting down three wine glasses, before ripping the cork out of a bottle of some really expensive looking vintage, with his bare hands. It must have been Champaign, since the drink bubbled when he poured it into each of their glasses.

"Don't worry, Barry, my wife isn't going to infect you." Tobias said, handing a glass to each of them. "She wouldn't have infected the whole ship, either, but those damn Umbrella people just kept popping up like weeds, so… it was the only way."

"The only… the _only way_?" Barry asked, genuinely shocked by what he was hearing. "Tobias, the last time I saw you, you were charging up into the Arklay Mountains to fight off what Umbrella was doing, and… and I'm sorry we didn't believe you, but what you've done here, on this ship… it's like _Raccoon City_ all over again."

"We only came here to find my brother, Reynaldo." Gillette added, sipping her drink. "I was only going to infect those who were absolutely necessary, while Tobias quietly searched the ship, but then that Leon guy and his Umbrella girlfriend started shooting at us, and… and we _still_ haven't found Reynaldo's container, R-002."

Now it was the brunette's turn for her voice to start breaking up, and a tear that looked more like black paint ran down her cheek while she sniffled, clearly trying to fight back the tears. Wiping the tear from her face, Gillette politely excused herself, using the outdated excuse of going to powder her nose, before being heard starting to cry again as she walked toward the doors. More lightning could be seen from the ongoing storm as she went outside onto the deck, followed by a crash of thunder while the door closed, leaving Barry alone with Tobias.

"I didn't tell her about that Umbrella submarine." The yellow eyed man said, taking a sip of his drink. "Nor did I tell her about that little girl, Lucia… who I'm guessing had R-002 stamped somewhere on her body during that little strip-search, am I right?"

"Yeah… yeah, you're right." The bearded man replied, feeling better that Gillette was gone, but somehow not yet at ease. "That mark was on the bottom of her foot, and then those agents took her and Leon away… could be a _thousand_ miles from here by now."

Trying to keep his calm, Barry knew that right now he was in a really dangerous situation, since out of everyone he had ever seen do an interrogation back at the RPD, Tobias Liquid was the best. He had always been able to pick out lies from truth just by watching a suspect's body language, or paying attention to voice inflections, but as long as the conversation stayed on the subject of Lucia for… whatever reason that was… it might be possible to keep the yellow eyed man from knowing that the Starlight was going to be sunk.

"Sometimes I hate being right, Barry." Tobias continued, leaning back in his chair. "I was right about something being behind the Cannibal Murders, and that blew up in my face… I was right about Chief Irons being involved in the disappearances of all those women, but there was no proof… and now I get to watch my wife's heart get broken because I was right again… when she finds out that Reynaldo doesn't _want_ to be found."

So far the yellow eyed man hadn't brought up anything but Lucia, and was now going into one of his long drawn out explanations for why he thought the way he did, beginning with the fact that there was just _happened_ to be a little girl onboard a cruise for newlywed couples, who had _somehow_ managed to avoid both his detection _and_ being infected by Gillette. This, plus the fact that the men from the Umbrella submarine were after her, and that the bearded man had seen the R-002 stamp on her body, could have only meant that Lucia… was really the one they called _Reynaldo_ in disguise.

"Are you telling me that _Lucia's_ another one of those monsters?!" Barry asked in shock. "But she had emotions, and she helped Leon… I mean, I thought there was something wrong with her being on this ship from the start, but she was so protective over Leon, and how could she be a monster if she didn't attack those guys when they grabbed her?"

Yeah, keep him focused on the girl, the bearded man thought, make him think that's the only issue. It was actually kind of nice to hear one of his explanations, at least in a kind of nostalgic way for how things had been in Raccoon City before everything had gone to shit, but… but this wasn't the Tobias Liquid that he had known before. This… creature had glowing yellow eyes, and was apparently okay with Gillette infecting a ship full of hundreds of innocent people… and perhaps the only way to stop him was to allow the Umbrella submarine to sink them like the Captain had said.

"Barry, you're probably the best friend that I have." The yellow eyed man said, his tone shifting a little. "Actually, you're my _only_ friend… everyone involved in Operation Arklay is dead… everyone who fought with me through Raccoon City is dead… and I even heard that Enrico died in that mansion your team investigated. Now, I've asked my wife not to infect you, and I saved your life, so… so why are you hiding something from me?"

Aw, crap, Barry already knew what his mistake had been: Trying so hard to avoid letting him know about the plan to sink the Starlight, that he had been far too open about others… a mistake that many suspects had made in the interrogation room over the years. So what could he do? Tobias knew he was hiding something, so staying silent was not an option, since Gillette's spores could be used to make him talk if it came to that… but maybe he could still be reasoned with.

So the bearded man went that route, encouraging his former friend to take a look around at their situation, and then to see himself in the mirror to what he had become. Barry might not have been a detective, but he had once been a pretty good negotiator, so he started by reminding Tobias of the person he had been back before the outbreak and the Cannibal Murders… back when he had been considered the greatest detective in Raccoon City, and what he had been willing to do to protect the city against… against monsters like the R Series, and… and Gillette.

"My wife is _not_ a monster." His former friend replied, laughing a little. "Granted, she was worked over by Umbrella, just like I was, but Gillette is the kindest, most loving person that I've ever met. Her powers can be a little intimidating, but everything she does is done for good reasons, so if you're done playing _negotiator_ with me… tell me what you're hiding."

Damn, that didn't work, either, and if Tobias couldn't see how truly evil his wife's abilities were, then maybe he really was too far gone to reach… but then Barry remembered something. Yeah, he remembered what had happened the first time he met Lucia, and she had said something to him when threatening him with that pistol. It hadn't made much sense back then, because he hadn't understood what was happening on the ship, but now it was perfectly clear, and it was probably the bearded man's only chance.

"All right, Tobias, I'll come clean with you." Barry said, sighing and then leaning closer to him. "I'll tell you everything I know, but on _one_ condition… I need you to say something bad about Gillette."

The yellow eyes man looked at him funny for a second, but the bearded man didn't let up, saying that it could have been anything at all; that he didn't like her hair, or that she was bossy, anything at all. Now Tobias laughed for a moment, scoffing at how ridiculous this condition was, before opening his mouth to say something… but nothing came out. Clearing his throat and trying again, the yellow eyed man smiled as if he were about to say something really funny about the brunette… but again nothing came out.

"This is stupid, Barry." The yellow eyed man replied, scoffing again as he leaned back. "I'm not going to insult my wife for you, she's… she's too good of a person."

"My God, it's true." Barry said, realizing something that was both frightening and that gave him hope at the same time. "You're just like all the others… you aren't insulting her because you can't… Tobias, don't you see? _You're_ under her spell, too."


	30. Chapter 30 Reynaldo

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Thirty: Reynaldo**

The grenade launcher and its precious P-Epsilon shell had landed all the way across the main chamber of the submarine, but Leon had plenty of time to crawl after it while the spiked monster, having changed back into the form of Lucia, took her time with the Captain and the only remaining crewmember. Trying to focus simply on getting the weapon, it was hard for the Agent to ignore the screams as the little girl ripped their clothes from them… and then began doing the same thing to their _skin_.

A greenish yellow glow was coming from the grenade launcher's chamber, which had come open when it hit the far wall, so once he picked up the weapon, Leon had to push the shell back into it, and close the chamber again with a loud click… which he knew the little girl had heard when she suddenly looked over at him. He expected this thing to revert back to its true form like R-005 had done, or to at least respond to being threatened in such a way, but instead Lucia let go of her two victims… even though they didn't have much time left by the looks of them.

"Leon, wait, don't waste that!" She yelled, putting up her hands and taking a step back. "I'm not going to hurt you, but that cartridge is the _only one_ of its kind, and it might be our only hope, so please… _please_ don't waste it on me."

In any other situation he would have aimed and fired at the monster, but… but for some reason it just didn't feel right to shoot the little girl, even though she was really a horrific BOW that had just murdered an entire crew of an Umbrella submarine. Leon stepped back as well, figuring that even if he didn't just shoot her with the gas shell, he could still keep the weapon ready in case she tried anything… man, Barry had been right about her from the start, but… but it was still so hard to believe.

"God, this is the weirdest assignment I've ever been on." The Agent grumbled to himself before looking back up at the little girl. "All right, fine then… if you don't want us to kill each other, then what do you suggest?"

"I'm sorry for lying to you, Leon." The monster said, its voice becoming deep and raspy again as it resumed its true form. "My name isn't Lucia… its _Reynaldo_ , designation R-002 Advanced Prototype Infiltration Bio-Organic Weapon. _I'm_ the one that Gillette came to the Starlight to find, but we must flee from her, I don't… I don't want to fall under her spell again, like Tobias."

Listening intently, and wondering how this mission could possibly get any weirder, the spiked monster explained how itself, Tobias, and Gillette had been locked in a containment cell together, deep underground at Sheena Island. Once sealed in close quarters with the brunette, both of them had quickly succumbed to her airborne spores, but unlike the other subjects who degraded into mindless zombies within a couple hours, Reynaldo and Tobias survived.

Something about the R Series genetic makeup allowed them to resist the elements of the spores that caused the degradation, and Tobias simply absorbed them for power like he had done with all other viruses, but none of this protected them from becoming her willing slaves. The strangest part of it was that while under the influence of her power, the spiked monster had genuinely wanted to obey her and make her happy… and it wasn't until Umbrella transferred Reynaldo to another facility, that the spell was broken.

"A few days away from her, and I was my old self again." The monster continued. "You've seen the horror of her power with your own eyes, and together we've hidden from her, that alone should show that you can trust me. Oh, and here… another gesture of good faith on my part."

The monster started to distort again, but this time only part of its torso, allowing it to literally reach into its own ribcage, and pull out something that shocked Leon once again. It was a small laptop computer, specifically the one that Cora had used to teach the Agent about Tobias and Gillette, but… but honestly there was only one way that this thing could have gotten its claws on the device.

"So, it was _you_." Leon said, not lowering the weapon just yet. "I thought Tobias killed Cora's team, but it was _you_."

"Yes, I did it, it was me." Reynaldo admitted, slowly setting the computer on a nearby shelf. "But you can have this; all of Umbrella's dirty little secrets in one convenient location, and all you have to do is either help me escape from Gillette, or… work with me in an effort to kill her with that weapon in your hands."

Now distorting in order to take the form of the submarine's Captain, the older man laid out a new plan, one that had surprisingly few steps, and was actually really simple. Together, the two of them were going to follow the Captain's plan to sink the Starlight with the submarine's torpedoes, and when Gillette came out of hiding to try and escape, they were going to hit her with the P-Epsilon shell, hopefully with Tobias getting caught in the blast as well. Unfortunately, for both of them, killing each other was not an option, since aside from knowing that it took more than one person to do, it was clear that neither of them knew how to operate a submarine.

For a moment the Agent considered going along with this plan, since if they figured out how to actually drive this thing, it would mean being able to go back to the Starlight and rescue Barry before actually sinking the Starlight… but then the _real_ Captain, the partially skinned older man lying at the monster's feet next to his dead subordinate, let out a final choking gasp of life, before falling still. God damn it, Reynaldo was right about it taking both of them at a minimum to drive the sub, so he couldn't just shoot the monster.

What to do, though? What the hell to _do_? Not only was the Agent locked in a really awkward and potentially deadly standoff with a BOW, but now that there was no longer anyone steering the submarine, every passing second meant that they could collide with, well… anything that happened to be in the way. Couldn't just stand there, though, had to… wait a second, there was a really sturdy looking hatch near where the monster, who had once again reverted back to its true form, was standing… one that locked from this side… and no other way visible way back in.

"Okay, okay, how about this?" Leon proposed, hoping that his new idea would work. "We need to work together to operate the sub, but let's keep ourselves both safe, too… you go into the engine chamber and work from there, while I seal myself in here and figure out the main controls. This way we don't crash, and, uh… there's no chance of any accidents happening, either."

Surprisingly, Reynaldo nodded in agreement before turning and slowly walking through the hatch into the rear chambers of the submarine, and was even nice enough to pull it closed once through. This meant that the Agent merely had to turn the wheel in the center of the door until the locks engaged, and then he could finally breathe easy… until remembering that he now had to somehow figure out how to drive a damn _submarine_.

The grenade launcher had a sling, so he put it over his shoulder, not wanting to be even a short distance away from the weapon, and allowing him to use both hands to figure out… God, this shit looked like the controls for an _airplane_ , and Leon was no pilot. There were so many gauges, toggles, buttons, and switches that the Agent didn't even know where to begin, let alone… wait a second, he found the _sonar_ monitor.

According to the screen, the Starlight was the only object within detection range, and they hadn't yet traveled too far from it, and… and that wheel over there might be the helm? Thankfully, the Captain had kept the vessel on the surface, so Leon didn't have to worry about depth and all that, and the good news was that when he slowly started turning the large wheel at the forward station… the image on the sonar began to change with it.

Okay, that was good… yeah, being able to steer the ship was good, but so far there was no sign of how to speed up or slow down… maybe that was controlled from engineering? There was an intercom on the wall, and when he tested it, he was greeted by the low raspy voice of Reynaldo, so at least they could talk to each other, and apparently speed really was controlled from down there, since the monster reported finding a lever with different speeds listed.

"All right, we can steer and stop." The Agent said into the intercom. "That's something, right?"

" _Indeed, but pointless without understanding how to fire the torpedoes_." The monster's voice replied through the speaker. " _Gillette and Tobias must not be allowed to leave the Starlight alive, do you understand, Leon? Nothing, not even our lives matter as much as destroying Gillette while she is contained out here on the ocean_."

Leon agreed just to keep things friendly, but there was one other thing that was more important: Rescuing Barry. During his exploration of the submarine's control room, he had also managed to find what looked like a radio station, and that he _did_ know how to use. Somehow the communications equipment managed to go undamaged during the recent battle, so once the intercom was off, Leon put the headset on, and set the frequency to that of HQ.

His biggest worry was that a helicopter would have been sent to the Starlight while he was trapped on the submarine, and that Gillette would get onboard, but thankfully the storm was still raging, meaning that it was still going to be several hours before anything could get off the ground. After that, he gave them the update of what had been happening from his end, deciding to leave out the fact that he was working with a BOW, and even without that part put in, HQ seemed just as confused by all the developments as he was.

" _Agent Kennedy, if you are absolutely sure that the Starlight is a lost cause_." HQ's voice began in reply after a long silence. " _Then we want you to make your best effort to rescue Director Burton, and then you are authorized to sink the vessel in order to contain the outbreak_. _Over and out_."

He had expected HQ to say something like that, but actually hearing the words that he was authorized to sink the ship was just so… so _final_. Well, it was going to take the same amount of time to get back to the Starlight as it had to travel away from it, giving the Agent time to think about how he was going to end this whole mess… and what a truly… _insane_ mess it was.


	31. Chapter 31 Direct Hit

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Thirty One: Direct Hit**

"That is… absolutely _ridiculous_." Gillette replied when confronted with the notion that she was controlling her husband. "I've never _told_ Tobias to do anything, he… truth is that I happen to _like_ men who take charge, so why would I want a slave?"

When Barry had made the accusation that the brunette was controlling his former friend, he had expected the yellow eyed man to fly into some kind of rage and confront her directly, since if there was anything that the old Tobias Liquid had hated back in Raccoon City, it was someone trying to manipulate him. However, instead of doing this, he brought his wife back into the piano bar from outside, and had her sit down so that they could all _talk_ about the issue.

"I think what's _really_ going on here is that your friend is _scared_ of us." The brunette continued. "I don't blame him, Tobias, since I did infect this whole ship in less than an hour, but if insulting me is what it takes to show him that I'm not controlling you, then go ahead and insult me. No, or better yet, take out your revolver and shoot me _right now_."

 _Bang_! All three of them at the table seemed to be startled when the yellow eyed man made his move as soon as Gillette had finished speaking; taking the revolver from his shoulder holster and causing a flash of light and noise as he sent a bullet right into his wife's shoulder. She barely twitched as a result, both she and Tobias now sitting there wide-eyed as the hole in her skin closed up almost instantly… and then Gillette's hands started shaking as she put both of them over her mouth.

"Gillette… I'm sorry." Tobias stammered, the weapon falling from his hand onto the table. "I… I don't even know why… oh God, honey, I'm _so_ sorry."

"But you're immune." The brunette finally said, taking his hands as if having gotten bad news at the doctor's office. "You absorb my spores for power, you… you burn them off almost as fast as I can produce them, I… Tobias, I don't _want_ to control you."

Oh, God damn it, were _none_ of his plans to get out of this situation going to work, Barry wondered. Tobias had taken out his revolver and shot her… he had _shot her_ on command, but instead of this escalating into a full blown fight between them over manipulation, and the yellow eyed man having some kind of startling revelation about how wrong everything the brunette was doing was, like the bearded man had hoped… the two of them hugged.

 _No, no, no_ , Barry thought as they both said they were sorry to each other, Gillette swearing that she would never tell him what to do again, followed by a quick kiss, and then a knot forming in the bearded man's stomach when their attention returned to him. Never one to be distracted by other things, at least not permanently, his former friend once again asked him what he was trying to desperately to hide, and this time Barry didn't have anything he could say without being forced to reveal what was soon going to happen to the Starlight.

 _BOOM_! A sudden explosion caused the Starlight to shake so violently that everyone was thrown from their chairs as a cloud of fire outside flashed briefly through the windows, and all of the tables had fallen over as well as the ship's automated alarms started to go off. Had they hit something? Unlikely, since this area of the Atlantic Ocean was supposed to be empty of any landmasses, and besides… islands didn't explode, no matter how hard something ran into them, so what was it?

According to the map the bearded man had seen on the bridge, it was still going to be several hours before the Starlight reached international waters, but there must have been a change of plans, since what else exploded like that out on the open water besides a torpedo? There were no more explosions following that one, but the fire and collision alarms were still going off, and now the whole ship seemed to be leaning just a couple degrees to the port side.

"What just happened?" Gillette asked, some fear in her voice as if she were a real person. "Did we hit something?"

Smoke was rising up from over the side of the ship where the explosion had taken place, heavy black smoke, which meant that the fire was probably spreading down below, where the rain from the storm wouldn't be able to get to it. If the Umbrella submarine had decided to attack early, then the good news was that it was about to become a lot easier to contain Tobias and Gillette… however, there was still that little detail about Barry, himself still being onboard.

"A fuel tank must have exploded or something." The yellow eyed man suggested, helping his wife to her feet. "That means we might be taking on water… come on, Gillette, let's go see if we can seal off the damaged area."

"Good idea." The bearded man replied quickly, sensing an opportunity to escape. "I'll go, and uh… try to turn on the emergency sprinklers to… slow the fire down."

Tobias nodded as the ship started to tilt just a little more, and Gillette even said a quick _thank you_ , which actually made Barry feel a little bad about what he was really about to do. The emergency fire controls were on the bridge, he had seen them a while back, but as the two Liquids ran toward the staircase that would take them down into the ship's lower decks, the bridge was _not_ where the bearded man was going.

The absolute last thing he wanted to do was stop this ship from sinking, since it might be the only way to contain Gillette without causing another outbreak, so as soon as he was alone, Barry ran off in the other direction. Pushing open the doors of the interior section, and finding himself immediately getting soaked by the pouring rain, he made his way across the surface deck, holding onto the railing while going right past the staircase that would have taken him up to the bridge, and going right for where the nearest lifeboats were tied up.

If he couldn't catch a ride on the submarine, nor get a helicopter from HQ out to save him in time, then at least getting into a lifeboat would give him a chance when the Starlight… which was tilting even more now, went under. With Tobias and Gillette heading down below, and zombies filling the interior sections, this was probably his only chance to get away, so the bearded man reached up to start releasing the nearest rope, only to find his wrist being painfully grabbed by something powerful.

"Right to the lifeboats, just like I thought." Tobias said with a hint of anger in his voice as he tightened his grip. "So is this what you were hiding from me, Barry? What, you wanted to make me get into a fight with my wife, so you could sink the ship and escape? I thought you were my friend, but…

 _BOOM_! Another, even more powerful explosion suddenly rocked the Starlight, causing it to now start tilting forward as well, while also allowing the bearded man to slip out of his former friend's grip. There was no time to reload his magnum, even though it had long been returned to him, so the bearded man reached into the hanging lifeboat, and pulled out one of the solid wood oars. _Whack_! Swinging it like a baseball bat, the flat part slid right across Tobias's face, making him do a half-spin, and forcing him to lean against the nearby wall across from the guardrail.

 _Whack! Whack! Whack!_ Hitting his former friend again and again, Barry kept going until the yellow eyed man was brought to his hands and knees, but then instead of pressing the attack, he dove backwards, allowing himself to hit the deck and slide backwards… increasing the distance between them so that he would have enough time to load his magnum. As expected, Tobias recovered quickly, but not quickly enough to stop the bearded man from putting a single bullet into the cylinder, and slam it shut.

 _Boom_! In what sounded like the youngest baby brother to the explosions caused by the torpedoes, Barry aimed the revolver and pulled the trigger just as Tobias was standing all the way up. There was a spray of discolored blood behind him as the high caliber bullet slammed into the side of his forehead, and then the yellow seemed to vanish completely from his former friend's eyes as he stumbled backwards… right through the open door of the nearest stairwell.

The sound of Tobias tumbling down the stairs was barely audible over the storm, which had already washed his discolored blood from the wall, but even as unlikely as it was for him to survive a hit like that from a .357 magnum, Barry's first thought was that of escape. There were more lifeboats toward the other end of the ship, so he ran, holding onto the guardrail so as not to be swept over the side by the slippery water, or the increasing tilt of the ship.

So far there was no sign of Tobias coming after him, but the bearded man still kept up the pace, wiping his eyes constantly to see through the storm, and not stopping until he reached the far end of the Starlight, where… where Gillette Liquid was standing in the center. Ignoring the rain that matted down her long black hair, and seemingly unaffected by the storm or the tilting ship, even though she was still wearing heels, the brunette just stood there staring at him for the longest time.

"Where exactly do you think you can escape to, Barry?" She asked, taking a couple steps toward him. "I knew it was a bad idea to leave you uninfected, especially after what happened with that Leon guy, but I still did it, because you were supposed to be my husband's friend."

"Well… well what the hell did you _expect_ me to do, huh?" Barry asked, feeling afraid and fed up with her at the same time. "You're a _monster,_ Gillette, you and Tobias both, and… well, just _look_ at what you did to this ship? Yesterday, everyone onboard was a happy newlywed, and now because of _you_ they're nothing but a bunch of mindless zombies. You're not a monster because you were created in a lab, you're a monster because of what _you chose_ to do to them."

The second explosion must have been another torpedo from the Umbrella sub, because now not only was the ship tilting sideways and forward now, but it was happening about twice as fast it had been before, which must have meant that the lower decks were taking on a lot of water. The good news was that the Starlight was huge, and even the _Titanic_ had taken a couple hours to sink after hitting that iceberg, but there was bad news, too… as far as the bearded man knew, Tobias was dead, and now Barry was there alone with his former friend's far more dangerous wife… who no longer had a reason to not try and infect him.


	32. Chapter 32 Change of Plans

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Thirty Two: Change of Plans**

Once figuring out how to get the submarine turned around, Leon started to have an easier time finding his way around the vessel's control chamber, as did his reluctant partner in the engine section. Together they managed to not only get back on the reverse course of the way the Umbrella Captain had been heading, but also keep it running smoothly, and even figuring out how to load the torpedo tubes.

At first, the thought of a BOW being able to load and operate such a weapon made the Agent nervous, but that was before he discovered that the master fire-control switch was in the control room with him… and thankfully Reynaldo hadn't tried to force his way back through the sealed bulkhead or anything. He was getting more and more nervous, regardless of this fact, now starting to jump and grip the grenade launcher tightly in reaction to the slightest unexpected noise, but he had to keep telling himself that the bulkhead was the only way in.

"Reynaldo, start slowing it down." He said through the intercom. "We're almost back at the Starlight, and I want to bring us right alongside like it was before, so that we can rescue Barry before we do anything else."

" _No, I will slow us down, but we must not lose the element of surprise_." The monster's raspy voice answered a couple seconds later. " _We must cripple the Starlight first, and then eliminate Gillette before trying to rescue your friend, or we're all doomed_."

This argument went back and forth for a minute or so, while the submarine slowed down only a few hundred meters from the Starlight… and then coming to a complete stop. Leon was the only one who could fire the torpedoes, but Reynaldo had control of the engines, meaning that they could do nothing without the other's cooperation, and now… and now the monster was no longer responding to him through the intercom.

"Reynaldo, don't be like this." The Agent continued, hearing his own voice echo through the system. "I know you're scared of Gillette, hell, I am too, but we need to rescue Barry because we're _better_ than Umbrella… Reynaldo?"

Nothing but silence greeted his ears, since even the submarine's engines had stopped, leaving Leon once again clutching the grenade launcher that was over his shoulder, while staring at the sealed bulkhead. His heart was beating faster, and his palms were getting all sweaty in nervousness and anticipation, listening over his rapid breathing for any sound of the monster's movements from through the door… but there was nothing.

 _Crash_! A metallic banging sound as something dropped down onto his shoulders from behind, and he realized that it was an air vent cover that was now hitting the floor at his feet… before realizing what was happening, and spinning around to aim the weapon as quickly as he could. Too late, the air vent cover above him had been kicked open from the inside, and out jumped Lucia, causing the weapon to fall from his grip as the little girl tackled him to the floor.

Reynaldo must have realized that the Agent was never going to follow the plan of attacking the Starlight first, so it resumed the form of Lucia, which was small enough to bypass the sealed bulkhead completely by squeezing her tiny body into the air vents, and even though Leon had spent more than a day watching the monster use this form to do this exact same thing all over the Starlight, he had somehow not thought of it happening now.

The grenade launcher was just a little too far away when he tried to reach for it, but then the little girl jumped to her feet, grabbing the Agent by the front of the shirt, and effortlessly pulling him up a second later. His pistol was long gone, and he hadn't bothered to pick up any of the dead Umbrella agents' weapons, since honestly they were ineffective against this creature, leaving Leon with no options other than to try fighting Lucia off with his bare hands.

It seemed that whatever form this monster took, its muscle mass, center of gravity, and body weight somehow changed as well, which was the only possible reason that Leon was able to actually pick the little girl up when he wrapped his arms around her waist. She let out a startled gasp when he lifted her small body off the floor, and then slammed her back down onto one of the larger control panels, now getting on top of her in an effort to pin her down long enough to start punching her in the face.

However, even with the changes to the monster's body, the Agent's punches did next to nothing to the little girl, except give her the opportunity to grab the front of his shirt collar. Suddenly he found himself unable to breathe as Lucia pulled his shirt in a cross-cross over his neck to choke him… a move that he remembered learning back at the Police Academy before getting sent to Raccoon City, and now instead of attacking, he found himself struggling to get away.

She didn't let go, though, instead using her still significant strength to roll him over so that they both fell to the floor, and then she got on top of him, straddling the Agent so that her knees could pin down his arm while she choked him. Oh, this was just _great_ , Leon found himself thinking as he struggled for breath; here he was, a survivor of Raccoon City, and an experienced agent of the United States Government… getting his ass kicked by a twelve year old girl.

He was just starting to get tunnel vision, which meant that he would pass out soon, but then surprisingly Lucia let him go, leaving him there to cough and gasp for breath while she walked right over to the fire-control switch. The Agent tried to get up and stop her, but he was too weak from lack of oxygen, and had barely managed to roll onto his stomach to start getting up, when a quick alarm sounded as a torpedo was fired.

The sonar screen showed the waterborne missile leaving the submarine, and accelerating as it barreled down on the Starlight's port side, and then the whole screen lit up for a second, which must have meant that the torpedo exploded. Instead of trying again to stop the little girl again, though, Leon used the same strategy that he had done to get the grenade launcher in the first place, which was to go for the weapon while the monster was distracted.

Again finding himself crawling across the deck, although this time not nearly as far, his only hope to save Barry now was to use the precious P-Epsilon shell on the monster. This time there would be no bargains, no deals, no listening… he was simply going to shoot the damn thing in whatever form it was in at the time, and be done with it… so he reached for the weapon, and his fingers were just starting to touch the stock, when suddenly the grenade launcher was pulled out of his reach by… _himself_?!

"You shouldn't play with this, someone might get hurt." Reynaldo, now in the form of Leon's identical twin said, laughing a little as he slung the weapon over his shoulder. "And that someone is you."

 _Whack_! The Agent's vision went white for a second as the monster kicked him across the face, and by the time it became clear again, another quick alarm sounded throughout the submarine as another torpedo was launched. Reynaldo watched the sonar screen intently until it lit up again with a second explosion from the Starlight, and then he came back over to grab Leon by the hair just as he was getting up to his knees.

Pulling him up with one hand so that he was standing up, the monster slugged him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and then hitting him again… and again… and again, before finally allowing the Agent to collapse back to the floor… where he vomited up everything in his stomach as a result. Leon tried to get up, but had only just started to push himself with his arms, when the monster kicked one out from under him, causing Reynaldo to laugh when the Agent's face fell right into what he had just thrown up.

"It's too bad I can't trust you, Leon." Reynaldo said, walking over to one of the dead Umbrella crew, and retrieving something. "See, you and I could've been friends, but I suppose this will always be the way with humans."

Again finding himself grabbed and picked up, this time the Agent was forced face-down over a control panel, while his evil twin pulled his wrists behind his back, and bound him with the zip-tie that he had taken from the dead crewmember. Not finished yet, Reynaldo next pulled him over to one of the metal pipes in the room, and secured the first zip-tie to it with a second one so that Leon couldn't move… and then he kicked Leon's feet out from under him.

 _Bang_! His head struck the pipe as he fell to a sitting position on the floor, now leaving him dazed, bound in such a way that he couldn't even sit up again… and must humiliating of all, his own vomit covering half of his face. He struggled, and pulled at the zip-ties, but just couldn't manage to break free while Reynaldo moved back and forth throughout the submarine in order to make it start moving again.

It took a while, but eventually the monster in Leon's form was able to bring the vessel right alongside the Starlight just as it had been before. Once stopped again, the monster rechecked the cartridge inside of the grenade launcher, and then headed for the top hatch that would allow him to leave. The storm must have still been raging, since a gust of wind and water flew down into the chamber as soon as the hatch was open, and then Reynaldo turned back to him.

"I'm going to kill Tobias and Gillette." He said in Leon's voice. "Then I'm gonna capture your friend, Barry, and who knows? Maybe I'll remember the good times we had, and keep you as pets… or maybe I'll just kill both of you, and then choose which of your identities I'm going to steal for the next ten or twenty years. See, Leon, you're young with no attachments, so I could go anywhere or do anything without anyone noticing… but then again, I've always wanted a family like Barry's. You can help me decide later… don't go away."

And with that, the monster wearing his face was gone, having climbed up the ladder and making his way back toward the Starlight while Leon was left there, struggling helplessly against his bonds.


	33. Chapter 33 A Family Affair

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Thirty Three: A Family Affair**

"Go ahead, take your time." Gillette said, taking off her heels while Barry fumbled nervously to reload his magnum revolver. "Because I'm certainly going to take _my_ time with _you_."

With hands shaking, and the bullets wet from the falling rain, one by one the bearded man managed to put them into the cylinder, all the while the brunette just standing there as if allowing him to go first. During the brief friendly reunion that had happened between him and his former friend, it was tempting, at least for a while, to go along with what they were doing in order to save his own skin. These cowardly feelings lasted only a matter of seconds, and Barry knew that if the Liquids managed to get back to shore, then nobody could even _count_ how many more people she could infect with her spores.

The Starlight was very slowly sinking, made obvious by how the bow of the ship was dipping forward as the engines pushed on, while the rest of it tilted another degree or two toward the port side where the torpedoes had hit. There were probably automated systems in place that had already sealed off whatever areas they could in reaction to the incoming water, but those systems had probably not been designed with _torpedo_ damage in mind, so they were likely only slowing down the inevitable.

"My husband _trusted_ you, Barry." Gillette scolded, folding her arms while he closed the full cylinder. "He said you were the best friend he ever had… Tobias told me about the Umbrella submarine, and how you helped smuggle Reynaldo off the ship… how could you _do_ that to us?"

"What… how could _I_ do this to _you_?" Barry spat, unable to wrap his head around her way of thinking. "What, like _you're_ the victim, here? Gillette, do you even _know_ how many people you killed in the past twenty four hours? Don't you even _care_ , or… can you even _understand_ what it means to take someone's life? You _look_ and _act_ like a woman, but you're just another one of Umbrella's monsters, and it's _my_ job to stop you!"

 _Boom! Boom! Boom!_ Aiming at her chest as best he could with the wind and rain in his eyes, and pulling the trigger, the bearded man sent three high caliber bullets into her body. The first one hit her in the stomach, making her bend forward, the second one struck her in the leg, making the brunette fall to one knee, and the third one went right into Gillette's face, causing her to completely collapse onto the deck while her black colored blood ran out… for a second.

The wounds on her body began closing up almost instantly after she hit the deck, regenerating her to the point where there was no evidence of her being shot at all… and now the brunette was getting up. _Boom! Boom! Boom!_ Each of the remaining three bullets in his magnum succeeded in knocking her down again, but there was no _permanent_ damage as she got up yet again… and now Barry only had a single bullet left, which he was struggling to get into the cylinder as Gillette started walking toward him again.

"Barry, get out of the way!" A voice called over the wind. "Barry, I can't get a shot! Get your ass out of the way, God damn it!"

Taking a moment to look over his shoulder, a sudden feeling of hope surged through the bearded man's body as he saw that Leon had returned; the Agent was sitting partially on the railing as if having just climbed up from down below, and in his hands was a really _big_ weapon that almost looked like a… oh. Realizing what was about to happen, Barry dove sideways without looking, but thankfully hitting the deck instead of a stairwell just as the Agent aimed his launcher, and fired.

No sound of it firing was heard over the storm, but the bearded man could see an odd kind of glowing projectile spinning as it flew right toward Gillette… until the shell hit one of her breasts, and bounced harmlessly onto the deck. Was it a dud? Had the casing of… whatever kind of grenade that was not broken on impact? During training in the Air Force a long time ago, Barry had heard of such things happening when a shell hit a target that was too soft to break the casing… but he never thought that a woman's _boobs_ could qualify, especially since Gillette's weren't really that big.

"What the hell is _this_?" The brunette asked, picking up the intact shell and looking at it. "Another one of Umbrella's containment plans? Tobias was a containment plan for BOW's, too, and look how _that_ turned out. _Oh, Leon, I think I found something of yours_ … here, let me _return_ it."

Keeping the strange, greenish-yellow shell in her hand, Gillette crouched down and started running, but for a second Barry lost her as her whole body became a blur, and that second was all it took for her to reach the equally surprised Leon. Smacking the grenade launcher out of his hands so that it fell overboard, the brunette grabbed him by the front of the shirt and tossed him across the deck as if he were a _Frisbee_ that spun around several times before landing.

 _Crash_! Plowing right through the corner support of the awning above the nearby swimming pool, the Agent bounced off the tile surface, and came to a rough stop against the guardrail, which was the only thing that stopped him from falling overboard, himself… and then something awful happened. Leon was bleeding from the hit, but his blood was _green_ , and an instant later the Agent's whole body distorted into a spiked, reptilian creature that was even more horrible than R-005.

"Reynaldo?" Gillette asked, stopping in mid-run when she saw this. "Reynaldo! Thank goodness we found you… why did you shoot this at me?"

"You stay… you stay the _hell_ away from me, Gillette!" The monster said with a voice that was now deep and raspy as it got up. "I won't let you put me under your spell again, you _bitch_ , I'd… I'd rather _die_!"

The anger that had briefly taken over the brunette's face had now transformed into confusion as she asked the monster what it was talking about, reminding it that they were a family, and always had been. The one she called _Reynaldo_ laughed at this, but it was an angry, almost offended-sounding laugh that seemed to confuse her even further as the spiked monster began to rant about how they had _never_ been a family, and how Tobias would _never_ have been her husband if the spores had worn off.

More things were said by the monster, hurtful things that seemed to cut Gillette a little deeper with each one, but Barry was no longer listening. Instead he was using this time to load his last bullet into the cylinder of his magnum revolver, for all the good it had done him so far against these creatures… well, it had stopped Tobias, so that was something, but what was he going to do about these two BOW's, and more importantly, what had happened to the _real_ Leon?

"Don't give me that nonsense!" The spiked monster yelled, recapturing the bearded man's attention. "You don't love me any more than you love Tobias! You don't love anyone, it's the way you and all your _sisters_ were made; you latch onto the first man you meet, and get close enough to infect him, and then you move on like the _whore_ that you…

Now the monster's words were stopped when Gillette became a blur once again, this time hitting it hard enough in the face with her closed fist to send several of its jagged teeth flying overboard. The force of this blow caused the spiked monster to fall back against the railing in a kind of stupor for a moment, but Reynaldo recovered quickly enough to make a powerful slice at her with its clawed hand.

Unfortunately for the monster, the brunette moved in too close for its claws to hit her, and then caught its arm by holding it against her ribs, and wrapping hers around it. _Snap_! With a twist of her arm, the spiked monster howled in pain when his was broken like a dead twig, but this howl was cut off when she backhanded it across the face, making it spit out a couple more teeth along with a spray of green blood. Reynaldo tried to grab her with its other hand, but with an annoyed look on her face, the brunette pulled its clawed hand off of her arm, and broke it at the wrist just as easily as the other arm.

"I can understand you not wanting to be part of my family." Gillette said, now grabbing the monster by the jaw and pulling it open. "But you will _not_ talk about my sisters that way, nor will you disrespect my husband, and… well I don't have any soap for that mouth of yours, Reynaldo, so _this_ will have to do."

Now Reynaldo's eyes went wide, closing its mouth tightly as she moved to shove the glowing grenade shell down its throat. Without its arms, however, plus Gillette's clearly superior strength, it was unable to stop her for long… but neither one of them had been paying attention to what Barry was doing the whole time. A couple times he had tried to aim at the grenade she was holding, but was unable to get a shot… not like he believed a single grenade would do anything significant to either of them, but it was better than just sitting there.

 _Boom_! Finally getting the opportunity when she was trying to shove the shell into Reynaldo's mouth, the bearded man aimed and fired after having to get a little closer because of the storm's winds. At that range it would have been almost impossible to miss, and the shell exploded an instant after he pulled the trigger, releasing a large cloud of greenish-yellow gas that quickly engulfed both of them.

A smoke grenade? Really? All that fuss over smoke? Oh well, at least it would give him cover to run away, and Barry was about to do just that, when he stopped after hearing coughing. Loud, hoarse coughing like someone was getting really sick, and that was when both Gillette and Reynaldo both stumbled out of the cloud, each falling to their hands and knees just on the edge of it. The spiked monster was shrieking in agony as the lingering gas seemed to be melting the parts of its reptilian skin that it touched.

This affected area quickly spread across Reynaldo's whole body, melting off its spikes and completely disintegrating more and more of its body as it tried to crawl away, leaving a _hissing_ sound like acid as the monster finally collapsed… falling silent as it continued melting until there was nothing but a puddle of discolored goo on the deck that was now being washed away by the rain. Gillette, however, was not so silent.

Gasping and choking with her hands at her throat, the brunette had also fallen to her hands and knees, vomiting up what looked like a mixture of the gas and her black spores as she fell over onto her side. The gas cloud remained where it was, regardless of the storm's winds and rain, but unlike how Reynaldo had melted, the glowing substance was having an entirely different effect on Gillette. Starting at her arms and legs, and working its way across her whole body, the gas was having a strange kind of… _crystallization_?

Yes, the gas was causing her whole body to become what looked like a single piece of quartz, and it must have been painful judging by the way she screamed. Her breathing was becoming labored, and black tears were flowing from her eyes, making Barry forget what she was for a moment when she started calling out her husband's name. She screamed for him again and again until the crystals reached her mouth, and then she was just as silent as Reynaldo… and with that the crystallization was complete.

"Barry!" A voice called out, just as it had done before. "Barry, come on! The Starlight's sinking!"

Looking over where the sound had come from, the bearded man saw that it was Leon frantically waving at him with his arms, giving him a flashback of Reynaldo's appearance… but it couldn't be. R-005 had exploded, and Reynaldo had melted, so this had to be the real one that was now climbing up over the railing. But how was he there? Wasn't Umbrella in charge of the submarine? Whatever, the ship really _was_ sinking more and more all the time, and Barry had just started to run toward him, when he was stopped as he felt a sharp pain in his back… a pain that was accompanied by an unmistakable sound.

 _Bang_!


	34. Chapter 34 A Fair Fight

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Thirty Four: A Fair Fight**

Leon wasn't sure how long he remained trapped down there in the submarine after the monster wearing his face climbed out the top hatch, but it felt like each passing second was an hour of time lost that he couldn't spend helping Barry. After all, the bearded man didn't know about Lucia's true identity, nor did he know that she could assume the form of others like R-005 did, and… and _God damn_ , these zip-ties were made of strong stuff.

It was fine, though, since he had gotten out of them before, and just had to do the same… oh, wait the Umbrella Captain, whose body was still lying where it fell, had cut him free with… with his _knife_. The pipe that the Agent was zip-tied to was only a short distance away from where the Captain's uniform had fallen when Reynaldo was ripping it off of him, and the knife was in his pants pocket, so if he could… just stretch… his foot… over toward it… just a little… farther.

A funny thing about life was that most things that someone needed were always just out of their reach, or just a little too high up, or whatever, but the point was that no matter how many times Leon tried to reach the Captain's pants with his foot, he just couldn't get that far. The knife that would allow him to free himself and go help Barry was only about an inch beyond what he could get to, and might as well have been a mile since the zip-tie was not letting up.

"Barry, that's not me!" He screamed up toward the open hatch. "Barry, don't trust me, God damn it!"

 _Clang_! Stomping his foot down on the floor out of frustration, and then pulling it back toward him so that he could sit up more comfortable, he felt the side of his boot hit something metal… something with a color that almost made it blend in perfectly with the gray colored plating of the deck. Having to squint and try to kick it again so that he could see it in the dim lighting, the Agent gasped when he realized that while the Captain's knife was out of reach, his _pistol_ was much closer.

Now with a grin spreading across his face, and then having to do an awkward kind of shuffling, scooting maneuver to get the weapon to where it could be reached with his hands, Leon did his best to put the zip-tie right over the barrel, preferably without shooting himself in the process. _Bang_! The bullet struck a nearby control panel, leaving a small hole, but at the same time the Agent fell on his face as the zip-tie holding him to the pipe was severed.

Okay, now he was free, and he had a weapon, so without thinking about anything else, he scrambled up to the top hatch, and climbed out onto the deck of the submarine, where the storm was still going full force. That, and the Starlight didn't seem too tall anymore, since most of the lower decks were now underwater, with more of them joining in the party with each passing minute. At this rate, it wasn't going to be long before the whole ship sank, thanks to Reynaldo firing the torpedoes, but it _did_ mean that there was also less ladder to climb in order to reach the surface deck.

When the Agent finally made it up to the top of the ladder, and climbed up over the railing, the first thing he saw was a cloud of yellowish-green gas over near the swimming pool, and… and something was happening to Reynaldo and Gillette. Even with the storm going, there was still enough light from the ship to see that they were in trouble, meaning that the P-Epsilon shell must have worked… only the spiked monster must have got caught in his own trap, because he was literally _melting_.

It was working on Gillette, too, by the look of it, but instead of melting, her whole body was turning white for some reason. In less than another minute, Reynaldo was nothing but a puddle of goo, and Gillette was no longer moving… but the Starlight was… moving down, that is, and if he and Barry didn't get back to the submarine, they risked being pulled down by the suction caused by large sinking ships.

"Barry!" He called, frantically waving his arms when he saw that the bearded man was luckily right there, too. "Barry, come on! The Starlight's sinking!"

The Agent didn't know whether or not he could be heard over the storm, so he called again, and this time Barry saw him. Okay, now all they had to do was get onboard the submarine, and the Starlight could sink all it wanted. However, just as the bearded man started toward him, Leon saw something else… something that made his blood run cold. There was movement behind him; movement in the form of Tobias Liquid, leaning heavily on the railing as he came toward them.

He was bleeding from the head as if something heavy had struck him, but that didn't stop the yellow eyed man from aiming his revolver at Barry, and firing. _Bang_! In a flash of light and noise, the bearded man stopped walking as a spray of blood came from his shoulder, forcing him to have to hold onto one of the swimming pool's awning support poles to keep from falling. _Bang_! A crash of thunder muffled Barry's scream as the next bullet hit him in the back of the leg, making him fall to the deck, and by this time Leon was running toward them.

"Tobias!" The Agent yelled, trying to distract him while aiming the pistol. "Get away from him!"

 _Click_. Suddenly Leon was experiencing a feeling like at the start of a roller coaster when the rider's stomach goes up into their chest, realizing only now that the bullet he had used to free himself from the zip-tie had been the last in the clip. Well, he had managed to stop Tobias from shooting Barry in the head, but now the yellow eyed man was turning to aim the pistol at _him_ , while a look of pure psychotic rage had engulfed his face.

"My… my wife." Tobias said slurring a little while a tear of blood ran down his cheek. "You… you killed… you killed my wife. You… you killed Gillette… you… you…

There was now nothing to stop the yellow eyed… actually, his eyes were no longer yellow _or_ glowing, but there was nothing to stop him from aiming at Leon and pulling the trigger… except for Barry reaching up and pulling his arm down just as it went off. _Bang_! Instead of hitting the Agent, the bullet went straight down, passing through the bearded man's palm, and then right into Tobias's foot, making them both cry out and fall away from each other.

Leon took this opportunity to find cover, throwing the empty pistol at his enemy, but missing completely while Tobias aimed at him again. Bang! Bang! The first bullet struck a table that the Agent was diving past, and the second one grazed his ribs just enough for him to feel the sting without being seriously hurt, and then Barry grabbed him again, this time knocking the revolver from his hands before being punched into unconsciousness for his trouble.

Tobias was limping and dazed from his head wound that he must have ran out of power before it could fully heal… hey… he was out of power. If his enemy was out of power, and there were no zombies or Gillette around to recharge him, then… then he was just an ordinary human, and they were on even ground. Leon was confident that the only reason Tobias won the last time they fought was because of his viral-induced powers, but now he didn't have any, and they were both wounded, meaning that the field was _completely_ level, since he seemed to have lost track of his weapon after dropping it.

"Tobias, it's _over_!" The Agent yelled, making one last effort to reason with him as he came out from behind cover. "Gillette and Reynaldo are dead, the Starlight's sinking, and _you're_ out of power! Give yourself up, and let us restrain you… and you can come onboard the submarine with me and Barry, otherwise… you're going to _die_!"

"I have died… so many times." His enemy replied, taking a step closer. "But somehow… somehow I keep coming back, even… even as everyone I love dies, I… I keep coming back. Nobody else does, just… just me… not Janet Carver… not Elza Walker… and not Leon Kennedy."

Anger was overtaking Tobias's face again, but Leon was determined to take him in instead of letting him die, so he moved forward to grab and restrain the wounded man, only to receive a head-butt to the face that made him stagger back. All right, fine, it looked like they were going to fight after all, so the Agent went on the offensive before his enemy could attack again, only to have Tobias lean sideways to avoid his punch, and then feel a strong sensation of pain when he received a punch to where the bullet had grazed his ribs.

Backing off so he wouldn't get grabbed again, Leon spun around to give him a kick in the chest, but his enemy caught his foot, and punched him in the side of the knee, while kicking his other leg out from under him, causing the Agent to fall right through another table with a soft _crash_. Scrambling to his feet, and now limping a little himself from that hit to the knee, Leon decided that maybe kicking was a bad idea, and moved in an attempt to match Tobias's strictly boxing style of fighting with his own… which was also a mistake.

He swung at his enemy, but Tobias blocked it, and hit the Agent in the stomach, where his guard was down, so Leon moved to defend his stomach, only to receive a hook to the side of the head that made him stumble backwards until he fell down on the deck. Strange thing was that his head hit water instead of solid ground, and it took a second for him to realize that he was on the very edge of the swimming pool, which was overflowing. He tried to get up, but Tobias was already on him, pinning the Agent's arms down with his knees, and then punching him in the mouth before pushing his head backwards until it was underwater.

He kicked and thrashed around, but Tobias was too strong, even without his powers. Thankfully, Leon had managed to take in a breath before going under, but it was only a matter of time before his air ran out, and his enemy didn't look like he was going to spare him this time. Slowly the Agent's struggles became weaker as his strength faded, and now his lungs were burning with the need for oxygen that would shortly force him to open his mouth, and then it would be all over.

 _Bang_! The Agent could only partially hear the sound, but he saw the flash of light from right behind his enemy, and then Tobias froze for a moment before falling forward and setting Leon free. Gasping and coughing for breath as he pulled himself up from the water, the first thing he saw was his enemy floating face down in the pool while blood flowed out from the wound on his back… and the second thing he saw was Barry… leaning heavily on one of the supports while Tobias's reclaimed .45 was still smoking in his hand.

"You saved me." Leon said, struggling to sit up while coughing out more water. "Barry, you saved my life."

"Thank God… thank God I got to you in time, Leon." The bearded man replied, smiling a bit as he dropped the revolver. "The Starlight's almost under, and… and I can't make it to the submarine by myself."


	35. Chapter 35 Umbrella's Doom

**Gaiden: Resident Evil SIV**

 **Chapter Thirty Five: Umbrella's Doom**

 _HONEYMOON CRUISE LINER STARLIGHT LOST WITH ALL HANDS_

 _April 17_ _th_ _, 2001 by Alyssa Ashcroft_

 _Disaster struck early this morning when the ocean liner Starlight, a favorite for newlywed couples for more than seven years without incident, was lost with all hands just before entering international waters off the coast of South Carolina. Authorities are still investigating what caused the well-known ship to vanish beneath the waves, but from what little evidence has been able to be collected so far, it is speculated by the US Coast Guard that it was a combination of getting caught in a freak tropical storm, and the possibility of collision with a smaller vessel that may have been running with its operating lights off._

 _As of this report, no survivors have been found, and it is believed that when the Starlight went down, it happened so quickly that there was no time for reaction from the passengers or the crew. As this is a developing story, new findings and other changes to the official record will be presented to our readers as they come available. Our hearts go out to the poor victims of this great tragedy, and to their families back home._

No longer able to stomach reading the _official_ explanation for things that happened involving Umbrella, Leon tossed the newspaper onto the nightstand next to his hospital bed, only to have it slide right off and then scatter across the floor. A whole day had passed since the Starlight went down, and although the storm was still going on outside the window of his room, the rain had let up for a while; just long enough for HQ to send a helicopter to pick him and Barry up from the Umbrella submarine, which had run out of fuel a short time after.

Flown back to South Carolina, the Agent figured that they were going to be taken right to the nearest hospital for treatment of their quite extensive wounds, but instead they were taken to a secure government facility, which made sense because there would be no curious civilians around to ask questions. This place was filed with patients, too, so they two of them were taken to separate rooms, probably so they could each be debriefed without influence, and then there he was… Leon Kennedy lying on a bed in a hospital gown, with IV's going into his veins, and nearly enough bandages to be the lead in _The Mummy Returns_.

A small Television was mounted on the wall in the corner, but this place didn't have cable, so his only choices at 10:00 PM were reruns of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ , or something called _Smallville_ , which didn't seem very interesting. The newspaper was now beyond his reach, and nothing was on TV, so he was just turning off the bedside lamp to try and get some sleep, when the room's main lights were turned on, making him groan with frustration.

"Hello, Agent Kennedy, how are you feeling?" The Director asked as she walked in carrying a small bowl with a spoon in it. "I brought you some _Jell-O_ from the cafeteria, and you'll be happy to know that I asked them to give you the _good_ sedatives tonight, so you'll sleep like a baby… but first we need to go over a few little details from your report."

Of course they did, Leon thought as he took the bowl with his one still working arm. No one had bothered him all damn day, but the moment he tried to go to sleep, _that_ was when questions needed to be answered. Overall, the mission had been a huge success, resulting in the stopping of a massive viral outbreak, the capture of an Umbrella submarine which he had been assured would serve the government nicely, and most importantly the recovery of Cora's database computer, which not only proved that civilian ships were being used to transport illegal materials, but had blown the lid right off on dozens of the company's _pet projects_.

The details that needed to be cleared up were the deaths of Agent Pricely as well as Captain Cora and her team, along with the details of exactly what happened with the _high level BOW's_ , as he had referred to them. These questions were pretty easy to answer; Amanda was infected by Gillette, Cora was infected by Tobias, and the Umbrella team was slashed to death by a monster called Reynaldo. As for the BOW's, Gillette and Reynaldo were both killed by an explosion of P-Epsilon gas, and Tobias was shot in the back by… hey, wait a second… _oh, no_.

"Director, this is _really_ important." Leon said, his whole tone going from casual to tense. "Gillette and Reynaldo were completely destroyed, but was the body of Tobias Liquid recovered by the Coast Guard? Did they recover _anyone_? Anyone at all?"

"No, Agent Kennedy, no bodies were recovered." She replied calmly. "Your report said that most of the infected passengers were located in the interior sections when the Starlight went down, so they were likely trapped, while the others… well, if the engines were still going, then they would have been sucked down and chopped up by the rotors, wouldn't they?"

He supposed so, but the part that was worrying the Agent was how he had finally, just now remembered where he had heard of P-Epsilon gas before the Captain had shown it to him onboard the submarine. In Tobias's file on Cora's database, it listed P-Epsilon gas as the cause of his mutation, and when he and Barry fled the sinking ship, that green cloud had still bene there… if it had hovered over the swimming pool, then… then what killed Reynaldo and Gillette… might _recharge_ Tobias.

"You're _sure_ no one survived?" He asked again. "You're sure no bodies were recovered?"

"Yes, Agent Kennedy, I'm sure." The Director replied, pushing his bowl toward him. "Now, you enjoy your Jell-O, and then get some sleep; consider yourself on vacation, Agent, with your only objective being to get better… we'll handle everything else involving the Starlight."

Leon seemed satisfied with this, and followed her advice, eating the Jell-O, which was actually pretty good, as she left. Of course, if he had somehow been able to follow her out of the room, he would have seen the Director walk right to the elevator, and after making sure that she was the only one inside the car, take a small key out of her pocket. Inserting the key into the lock that was labeled as reserved for use by the _Fire Department_ only, she turned it all the way around, pulled it back out, and then leaned forward so that the wall mounted security camera could scan the retina of her eye.

Once this was complete, the elevator started down from the fourth floor where Leon and Barry were resting, past the ground level, and down through the sub-basements… but not stopping just yet. The indicator lights on the floor buttons no longer registered the car's location, but still it went down, until finally stopping without even making the typical sound of the door's bell as it opened into a long corridor. This place was brightly lit with fluorescent light fixtures hung by thin chains from the ceiling, and on both sides of the corridor were heavy doors like the kinds that could be found in a _Super-Max_ prison.

The Director wasn't interested in any of them, though, instead continuing on to the end, where two heavily armed and armored guards had to use both of their key cards to open the final door. Once the electronic locks were released, the heavy metal door swung open to reveal a transparent containment cell, where a single prisoner, naked as the day he was born, was lying on the floor, shackled by a dozen chains that were bolted right down to the concrete underneath him.

"Hello again, P-001." She said, looking down at him after walking up to the transparent wall. "Agent Kennedy says you're a danger, and he even guessed right in how you survived. Personally, I think the luckiest part for you was somehow avoiding the Starlight's rotors when it went down… but I've convinced him that you were lost at sea. Now, have you thought about my offer?"

"You mean _helping you or dying_?" The prisoner replied weakly, coughing up a little blood when he laughed. "I'll do _anything_ to destroy Umbrella, even work with scumbags like _you_ , who lie to their best people… but there is one more thing."

The Director scoffed at the very idea of this _creature_ asking for something, and she was just starting to remind him of his situation, when her words turned into a startled gasp when he sat up and punched the wall hard enough to leave a tiny dent in the material. The shock of this caused her to stumble backwards and fall down while the prisoner stood up as much as the dozen chains would allow, and then he growled like an animal as she scrambled to her feet.

"My name is _Tobias Liquid_ , not _P-001_." The prisoner stated as his gray eyes glowed yellow for a second. "Now… shall we get started?"


End file.
